The digital divides in Hong Kong: A small stories analysis of older women’s use of smartphones and mobile technologies

This chapter uses a 'small stories' narrative approach to examine how eight older, low-income, Cantonese-speaking women in Hong Kong, aged 63 to 91, talk about their use of smartphones and other everyday technologies. Data were collected at a community centre in 2019 through individual interviews and follow-up focus groups, yielding 158 small stories. Two themes emerged. The women were pragmatic, confident users of familiar tools such as Octopus transport cards. However, although all eight owned internet-enabled smartphones, seven used them only for calls. They described themselves as owners rather than users, citing poor memory, lack of teachers, and limited perceived value in the extra features. Owning a smartphone, the authors argue, is not the same as actively using one.