Existing studies on the digital divide agree that age is one of the key factors regarding the divide, but they neglect an in-depth analysis of the attitudes of the old people towards the internet and the situations in which they live. This article tries to fill this research gap. We carried out a quantitative analysis of a representative sample of the old Slovenian population of ages between 65 and 85 years on internet use, and 33 in-depth interviews with the old people in Primorska on internet use and their attitudes towards it. The results of the survey analysis show that 33.2 % of old people in Slovenia use the internet. Among these users are more men than women, and they tend to be better educated and wealthier than non-users. Internet use also differs by region - it is used least in Pomurje and most in central Slovenia. The key reasons for not using the internet are lack of money and knowledge. The analysis of in-depth interviews revealed a more complex picture of internet use. According to use and attitudes towards the internet, we classifi ed the interviewees into internet critics, neutrals, and followers. The internet critics comprise two types. The largest group of critics does not use the internet because of lack of money, poor social support and negative attitudes towards it. Those interviewees believe that the internet encourages and allows an invasion of privacy. Another group of relatively well-networked, wealthier and socially active old interviewees who are able to afford access to the internet, but deliberately do not use it because they believe that digital communication threatens the quality of interpersonal communication. The neutrals, those who do not use the internet or use it very rarely, expressed neither positive nor negative attitudes towards the internet. The results show that they would use the internet if they had individual access and learnt how to use it. A special group comprises those who do not use the internet because of a disease or a disability. They want to use it because they wish to "live a life," which they consider themselves now deprived of. The internet followers regularly use the internet and have a positive, though not naive, view; they point out many problems involved in using the internet. The study also show that greater social engagement is not correlated with greater internet use, rather with attitudes towards the internet.
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