“For us, Alibaba was just a story”: Despite the power of habit older people are gradually adopting the digital discourse

Information technology can help older persons continue living independently and keep them active for many years. The aim of the present study is to understand the expectations of older people regarding information technology, how they perceive it, how useful they find it and how significant it is in their life. For this purpose, we interviewed 40 older people aged 65-93 who were attending day centers. The findings, which were examined in light of the continuity theory presented by Atchley (1989), reveal different levels of resistance to technology that range from rejection and tendency to preserve previous familiar patterns to acceptance of the technology. Findings indicate cracks in the continuity strategy. The discourse about information technology among the older persons is ambivalent, incoherent, and laden with internal contradictions. Older people are immigrants to the new digital world; they do not speak its language and feel alienated from it, simultaneously accepting and rejecting it.