Digital Competencies of Older Influencers: A Focus on Lifelong Learning

This study seeks to identify the digital competencies (DC) for older people to act as digital influencers. Society is increasingly connected to digital technologies (DT), impacted by access and the speed of change. In this sense, the number of older people accessing the internet and actively participating in digital social media has grown exponentially. This new way of interacting enables digital empowerment and lifelong learning. Thus, for seniors to be able to not only consume, but also produce content supported by DT, it is necessary to build DCs aimed at the critical and safe use of technological resources. What’s more, by using social networks to share their knowledge and position themselves on various topics, such as fashion, food, travel and well-being, they end up influencing other people on decisions not only about purchases, but also about lifestyle. The methodology employed was characterized as qualitative, exploratory and applied in nature. Online questionnaires, interviews and observation during a distance learning course were used to collect data. The target audience was elderly digital influencers and non-influencers. Three influencers and 13 non-influencers aged 60 or over took part. The preliminary results showed six DCs: Digital Communication, Information Sharing, Digital Engagement, Digital Safety, Digital Content Creation and Digital Coexistence. In this way, the results found so far point to a need to build competencies related to the production of digital content that are more relevant and contribute to lifelong education.