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Of: TT
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Photo: Martina Holmberg / TT
“Retirees use Internet services to a greater extent than before the pandemic, but we also see that dissatisfaction in some groups is increasing in line with the increase in screen time,” says Måns Jonasson of the Internet Foundation.
The pandemic has caused a greater increase than ever in the number of Internet users.
It is mainly the elderly who have connected for the first time and are happy with what they have found there.
The most dissatisfied with the new digital life are the students. This is stated in this year’s edition of the “Swedes and the Internet” report.
For the first time in the 20-year history of the report, the Internet Foundation has chosen to collect data twice a year. It usually happens once during the first trimester, but this year they also chose to ask the questions after the summer to see what possible effects the pandemic has had.
– The big difference between the first and third trimesters is that the use has increased a lot and has had effects. Pensioners use Internet services to a greater extent than before the pandemic, but we also see dissatisfaction in some groups increasing with increasing screen time, says Måns Jonasson, digital strategist at the Internet Foundation who conducts the survey that gives as a result the report every year.
Older people feel sociable
One percent of those who used the Internet during the third quarter of the year did not do so before the pandemic, which represents a greater increase than in other years. Most of the new users are 76 years or older.
– We are happy to see them take this step on the Internet, it is a group that has been quite stubborn that this with the Internet is not for them. Now that they have been forced to use some of the Internet services, they have found it to be fun and useful, says Måns Jonasson.
Above all, many older people have started to make more electronic purchases, including food and medicine. Many older people have also started video chatting more with children and grandchildren.
This has led them to feel more social about screen time, and the elderly have even surrounded students on this topic. 37 percent of retirees feel more social from screen time, among those who are 76 and older, the corresponding figure is 42 percent.
Most dissatisfied students
Students generally top this list and during the first quarter, 40 percent felt more social about screen time. By the third quarter, that number plummeted to 28 percent.
Students remain the group that uses the Internet the most, but they are also the ones who have changed their attitudes the most during the pandemic and the ones who have become the most negative about Internet use. An important explanation is distance learning.
– I imagine that they are already in front of the screens all their free time, more or less. When they went digital even during school hours, the last human encounter disappeared, says Måns Jonasson, adding:
– This shows that it is difficult to switch to distance education in a good way. It’s not enough to send students home to sit in front of Zoom all day, but learning is about much more than that.
Task multiplied by ten
Those who are only working and not studying are more satisfied with the task. Eight out of ten who worked from home during the pandemic think it has worked well and nine out of ten want to do more even after the pandemic.
The number of domestic workers has more than doubled during the pandemic, from 2 percent before to 23 percent after the summer.
– It’s like a dam that has been broken there. Most people want a flexible solution and I think it will bring lasting changes to the way we work in the future, says Måns Jonasson.
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