Práticas informacionais: um estudo com pessoas idosas no contexto da pandemia da Covid-19

Abstract

In the current historical moment, in which the world is facing the Covid-19 pandemic, the actions of search, access, use and sharing of information in the daily lives of subjects seem to incorporate digital technologies and their consequences with greater intensity and speed: the “ infodemia” and, in parallel, fake news and misinformation. There is, for this reason, a double concern with the elderly, one because they constitute a risk group and the other because they are not so resourceful with remote and digital means, which makes them potential victims of fake news. The lack of studies in Information Science with this group of people only adds to the concerns raised by the meticulous look of the researcher, who inaugurates the field of informational practices by directing the scope to the element “60+”, questioning: how are practices configured informational needs of elderly people in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic? To answer the question, firstly, a qualitative approach was adopted. Secondly, in order to reach the main objective, which was to understand the informational practices of the elderly in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the ethnomethodological guidelines supported the methodological path. With regard to procedures, this work was classified as field research, which used in-depth interviews in a semi-structured modality. Regarding the inclusion and number of subjects in the study, this was done using the Snowball technique, respecting the established criteria and taking into account the saturation criterion. In all, thirteen elderly people aged between sixty-one and eighty-one years old collaborated, three of them in the pre-test phase aimed at improving the interview script, and ten with the definitive interview script. This technique allowed us to choose the first person through whom a new indication was given, and so on. With regard to data analysis, the research used content analysis and with regard to their interpretation, it was based on Symbolic Interactionism (BLUMER, 1969), Ethnomethodology (GARFINKEL, 1967) and Social Representations (MOSCOVICI, 1961). Finally, it was concluded that the analogical and/or digital informational practices developed by the elderly are mainly due to the needs of each one in their daily lives, according to their preferences, values, interpretations, meanings, references and knowledge , emphasizing that the universe of the elderly is quite heterogeneous and the social roles they assume in this phase are quite varied.