The digital split between generations and its impact on social health: the regional aspect

The article is devoted to analysis of the inter-generational digital split and its impact on social health of regional communities. The actuality of the study lies in the fact that fragmentation of digital space and formation of isolated “information bubbles” originate barriers for realization of altruistic potential of population, excluding elderly generation from processes of coordination of civil activity and decreasing steadiness of territorial systems to external challenges. It is established that digital split comes out as mechanism of social exclusion, causing harm both to the individual well-being of elderly people and to collective social capital of community. The zones of “double vulnerability” are identified in rural settlements, where age barriers superimpose on territorial inequality, paralyzing mechanisms of digital mutual assistance. It is emphasized that the overcoming of negative consequences of split requires development of hybrid models supporting social capital combining digital and offline tools and consideration of local characteristics of media consumption at formation of regional policy. The directions of further research are proposed, including detailed elaboration of motivational barriers and causes of distrust of online practices among various age cohorts.