How do we conceptualize the elderly digital divide?

When considering the elderly digital divide in China, limited progress has been made in conceptualizing this problem. Despite the existing research representing a laudable body of work, we argue that a majority of these studies measure the digital divide in an overly simplistic manner, which belies its complexity. In addition, what underpins these studies is an assumption that an elderly person does or does not experience a digital divide. However, it has been argued that a clearer understanding of this problem is held back by this assumption. Therefore, it has been suggested that rather than viewing the digital divide as a dichotomy, it should be viewed as a continuum between the extremes. To explore this continuum, we advance the Life Course Perspective, which, through four principles, offers a framework for examining the digital divide. Through a discussion of the principles, with examples, we illustrate its potential for conceptualizing this problem.