The relationship between information acquisition and smartphone-using of elderly people in Western Rural China

Although overall Internet penetration in China continues to increase, smartphone penetration among rural elderly remains relatively low. What limits older people’s in-depth development and use of smartphones as a new information channel is no longer economic factors but their information quality and needs. This paper takes rural elderly people as research subjects and investigates four villages in Xi 'an Shanxi Province. Combining a questionnaire survey with a semi-structured interview, this paper conducts an in-depth investigation in rural areas to understand the smartphone usage habits of rural elderly residents. The information acquisition mode of rural elderly smartphone users coexists with traditional and online information sources. They have not thoroughly discovered the functions of their smartphones. Therefore, rural elderly groups still suffer from information lag and have blocked knowledge organizations. This situation is expected to be improved by promoting knowledge sharing within the elderly group and introducing mobile phone knowledge popularisation.