Age and the Digital Divide in the 21st Century: Patterns of Internet Use Across Generations

This study explores generational differences in internet usage among Croatian citizens, focusing on trends across various online activities. Data collected by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics as part of the survey on the usage of information and communication technologies (ICT) in households and among individuals were analyzed to assess usage patterns across six age groups (16-24, 25-34, 35-44, 4554, 55-64, and 65-74 years) for activities such as communication, online transactions, entertainment, and civic engagement. In the first step, exploratory factor analysis was conducted, identifying four factors: Day-to-day tasks, Communication & Fun, Informing, and Policy & Voting. In the second step, the age-based comparison revealed significant disparities. The Internet was used most often for communication and fun among users aged 16-24. Day-to-day tasks were conducted online most frequently by users aged 2534, among whom policy and voting activities were also the most frequent. However, informing activities were conducted most often by users aged 45-54. Notably, the youngest users aged 1624 use social media more often than online news sites, newspapers, or news magazines. Link analysis indicated that younger users (16-24; 25-34) simultaneously use the Internet for a wide range of tasks, while the oldest group of citizens (6574) primarily uses the Internet for informing activities, such as seeking news and health-related information.