This keynote presentation reviews empirical evidence on the intersection of older age and mobile communication from a non-patronizing perspective. It examines the ways heterogeneous groups of older individuals appropriate mobile devices, the meanings of these uses, and the paramount role of the mobile phone.

By acknowledging the heterogeneity often hidden in under the label “old age,” this presentation identifies the challenges faced in research to achieving a richer and more complex analysis of a networked society at different stages of later life. There is a need for critical analytical frameworks able to move beyond rooted and invisible ageist prejudices which will help achieve more nuanced and precise understandings of the place of mobile communication in later life.