Technological Utopias: Loneliness and Rural Contexts in Western Iberia

Abstract

Background: Urbanisation and rural migration in some areas of Spain and Portugal have given rise to rural contexts largely defined by ageing and depopulation. Rural populations have suffered from increasing social isolation, with older people living alone in villages with very few inhabitants and limited access to services. The aim of this study is to analyse the extent to which technology serve as a strategy to improve social relations and how technology influences older adults’ loneliness, its uses, meanings, experiences, and perceptions. Methods: Ethnographic research is conducted in several locations in the border area between Spain and Portugal, supported by semi-structured interviews with 17 rural subjects aged 65 years and older. Results: The results underline two main points. Participants’ definitions point to loneliness as an experience built around nostalgia for those who are no longer there, where the disappearance of rituals in the community also leads to a lack of “social happiness”. Conclusions: We note low levels of digital literacy skills and competence among our participants, with most of them rejecting any technology beyond analogue devices.

1. Loneliness and Ageing in Western Iberia

Ageing of Western societies stems from an increase in the life expectancy of the population, which is an important sign of social progress and an improvement in health. However, this ageing poses several challenges. Social implications of these population dynamics are subject of debate due to their obvious impact on aspects such as labour relations, health and care systems sustainability, and changes in family models. Recent data show that the percentage of older adults living in rural areas is particularly high in Spain (Eurostat 2020). This situation is the result of a process that started in the 1960s, with outward migration trends from the rural heartlands of Central and Southern Spain towards the industrial urban centres of the North—the so-called “rural exodus” (Pinilla and Sáez 2016).

In Extremadura, the impact of these outward migration trends caused a negative demographic balance (Cayetano Rosado 2011), and the situation is becoming increasingly problematic. Migration towards the industrial centres of the Iberian Peninsula has meant that the concentration of services is also clustered around these centres, leaving the peripheral rural regions, especially the case of Extremadura1. At the same time, data on population ageing are also becoming a pressing concern because of the difficulty for public systems to be sustainable in a context of such low population density. The situation in Spain mirrors that of the neighbouring Portuguese region of Alentejo. Both regions have experienced a similar demographic evolution (Cayetano Rosado 2006). The ageing index in Extremadura is 19 points above the Spanish national average (Instituto Nacional de Estadística de España 2019), while Alentejo has 27.04% of its population being 65 or older2 (Instituto Nacional de Estadistica de Portugal 2021).

Although loneliness is primarily an individual experience, quantitative measures have shown that certain groups, such as the older people, are at greater risk of loneliness than others (Aartsen and Jylhä 2011; Pinquart and Sörensen 2007). Loneliness among older adults living in rural areas, such as Extremadura or the Alentejo, may appear because of the convergence of two trends: (1) a high population ageing of society and (2) a continued depopulation in these places due to migration. These facts could increase social isolation and feelings of loneliness among those older people who stay at home living alone, with fewer and fewer family and friends around them. There is growing concern about the effects of loneliness on older adults’ health and well-being (Crewdson 2016). It has been suggested that the impact of loneliness on older adults living in rural populations is greater due them being at higher risk of social isolation (McHugh Power et al. 2017). However, official data on loneliness are limited and not always reliable3.

Living alone, having a small social network and infrequent social contact are indicators of social isolation. Social isolation may be an objectively quantifiable variable. Loneliness is a subjective perception of social isolation, and can therefore only be measured in a subjective way (Holt-Lunstad et al. 2015). Loneliness has been defined and conceptualised from different theoretical approaches and areas of knowledge. Robert S. Weiss (1974) differentiates between two types of loneliness: emotional loneliness is the lack of intimate emotional attachment, while social loneliness is a deficit of social integration. Peplau and Perlman (1982) define loneliness as a subjective and undesirable feeling of lack or loss of companionship that would occur when there is an imbalance between the quantity and quality of social relationships one has and one desires. Cacioppo and Patrick (2008) portray loneliness as a deep psychological response that is accompanied by a feeling of distress when social needs are perceived as not being met. According to Victor et al. (2009, p. 22), loneliness is a state in which there is a deficit between the existing level of social engagement and the desired level of social engagement.

Loneliness is a hard concept to research from a cross-cultural, anthropological perspective (Allerton 2007). Meanings of loneliness are influenced by age, gender, and culture, and this emotion is differently experienced, socially constructed, and seen (Snell 2016). Ethnographic studies of loneliness can shed light on the cultural configuration of experiences and expectations of loneliness (Ozawa-de Silva and Parsons 2020). For example, Parsons (2020) argues how “being unneeded” in today’s Russia is a culturally specific form of relational lack that relates to practices of social exchange. Being unneeded is interpreted as an ethical response to post-Soviet Russian society in which certain people (especially older people) felt unneeded, regarded by others as having little to offer. Loneliness can be read as an ethical response to the lack of mutual recognition. Social, economic, and political problems in each context can offer reconsidered visions of loneliness through migration and dispersal in communities, as the case of the Sahara and the Tuareg studied by Rasmussen (2020). Through the analysis of the representations of loneliness in the interviews, a variety of ways in which this loneliness is expressed, such as nostalgia, depression, or unrequited love, are identified. As noted by Stein and Tuval-Mashiach (2015), loneliness means different things to different individuals and is rarely expressed using the word “loneliness”. Miller (2015) points out how loneliness during the last stages of life is based on the socio-cultural construction of the private and domestic sphere and the boundaries that are set within it, rather than on social isolation that derive from personal situations. Portacolone (2015) discovers meanings that loneliness has for different groups of older people and how this emotion is intersected by the category of class. While residents of housing estates for the elderly were certainly protected, limited material resources and living in conventional housing meant worse living conditions for those living alone with a more precarious profile, which is most representative of the majority of older Americans living alone. De Silva and Welgama (2014) conclude that the modernisation of the economy and society has exacerbated an intergenerational divide that has led to an intensification of tensions between older people and other family members, resulting in feelings of loneliness.

Studies on the use of technology among older people and possible technological interventions that may offer solutions to issues related to loneliness are becoming more popular in scientific literature. Some studies have shown that greater use of the Internet as a communication tool was associated with lower levels of social loneliness; conversely, greater use of the Internet to meet new people was associated with higher levels of emotional loneliness (Sum et al. 2008). Thus, the purpose of use not only influenced the reduction or increase in the level of loneliness, but also the type of loneliness felt. Other research has pointed to different types of technology users among older people on the basis of which a greater or lesser potential risk of isolation or loneliness is detected (Baecker et al. 2014). A study from Barbosa Neves et al. (2019) notes how technology was a communication tool that required a period of adaptation, but only increased social connectedness was reported among those participants who interacted with geographically distant relatives. Recent studies point to the importance of internet use in reducing perceived loneliness among older people, provided that this use is accompanied by social contact (Yu et al. 2021). However, studies tend not to focus on those groups of older people with low or no technological literacy, such as those participating in this study. It seems important to expand knowledge about their relationship with technology and the extent to which it can be useful in combating feelings of loneliness.

Based on empirical material obtained through fieldwork, this article aims to examine the “optimistic myths” (Schoenbach 2001) surrounding technology. In particular, we intend to analyse the extent to which technology may or may not serve as a strategy to improve social relations (Antonucci et al. 2017), and how digital technology influences older adults’ loneliness, its uses and meanings, along with their experiences and perceptions. We argue for the need to rethink the notion of loneliness. To this end, we have proposed the following research questions. How do older adults living in depopulated, rural4 contexts in Extremadura and Alentejo experience loneliness? How do they define their experiences of loneliness in their own words? To what extent can technological proposals offer solutions to this perceived loneliness?

2. Materials, Methods and Settings

This article presents the results of an ethnographic project (Brinkman and Kvale 2015; Hammersley and Atkinson 1994), which was conducted in different rural localities of the Extremadura (Spain) and Alentejo (Portugal) regions (Figure 1). The selection of study locations was based on key socio-demographic markers, such as ageing index, population density, or average population decline in recent years.

Data were gathered from June 2019 to February 2020, through different interviews and participant observation. The main source of data were semi-structured interviews (Brinkman and Kvale 2015; Neumann and Neumann 2018), which were conducted on 17 participants (

Table 1. Characteristics of the participants.

Name5	Age	Sex	Marital Status	Household Type
Emilia	91	Female	Widow	Living alone, cared for by her children, dependent.
Luz	71	Female	Widow	Living alone in her house, her children do not live near
Manuel	84	Male	Single	Living alone, no close relatives
Camilo	82	Male	Married	Lives with his wife and one son
Manuela	92	Female	Widow	Living alone, her children live in the village.
Rosana	68	Female	Divorcee	Living alone, no children, mobility problems
Julia	77	Female	Widow	Living alone, no childern
Joao	79	Male	Married	Living with his wife, no children nearby
María	76	Female	Married	Living with her husband, they do not leave their house.
Sabina	84	Female	Widow	Living alone, one of her children lives in the village.
Ana	83	Female	Widow	Health problems, daughter temporarily in home
Luisa	82	Female	Couple	Lives with partner, no close relatives
Victor	84	Male	Couple	Lives with partner, no close relatives
Manuel	70	Male	Married	Lives with his wife, his children live abroad.
Joaquim	81	Male	Single	Living alone, no close relatives nearby
María	78	Female	Married	Living alone, children visit her 2–3 times a week
Francisca	75	Female	Widow	Living alone, her daughter lives in the village

). The sample was recruited by snowball sampling. The sample size was determined by the saturation of the data, which began to be found after interview number 15. The interviews were carried out in the participants’ own homes and sometimes in leisure centres for the elderly. This ensured their privacy and comfort during the interviews.

The themes addressed revolved around everyday routines and experiences of loneliness in a rural context. Questions regarding access to and use of technological devices were also included. At the same time, the researchers, following a flexible, inductive approach, were open to explore new topics that could arise during the interviews (Emans 2004). Participant observation was also developed in the field. Throughout the research period, observation has been carried out in different spaces of socialisation, such as squares, markets, churches, bars, leisure centres, and centres for older people, as well as in other spaces that may describe more intimate context, such as sharing an afternoon stroll with participants, a visit to a doctor’s surgery, or an informal chat at home.

All interviews were audio-recorded, and field notes were taken during their duration, conducted by a team of three researchers. Audio-recordings were transcribed verbatim. To protect their anonymity, individual references that could lead to participants being identified were eliminated. The transcribed interviews were analysed using the qualitative data analysis software ATLAS.ti. Our analysis was based on grounded theory (Strauss and Corbin 2004) and current proposals for the systematisation of thematic analysis (Nowell et al. 2017). Categories were identified and analysed through systematic content-coding: (1) preliminary units of analysis were established after a first reading of the transcripts, and (2) using the constant comparison method, whereby open-coded data were grouped into concepts and categories were generated accordingly. Once data were broken down into categories and subcategories, their relationships were actively and systematically analysed in a process of axial coding (Bonilla-García and López-Suárez 2016). Finally, following a process of selective coding, categories were grouped into five main categories (

Table 2. Themes and categories.

Themes	Categories	Verbatim
Loneliness	Emic definitions (emotional loneliness vs. social loneliness)	“Lack of companionship” “Lack of social happiness”
	Feelings of loneliness	“It’s because I get sad. I get that depression thing, which is very bad—and that’s it”
Technology	Perception of “technology”	“My husband switches the telly on and starts surfing channels, searching—but I get bored”
	Perception of its uses	“Do not give me that WhatsApp thing—because I don’t want it!”
	Adoption of new technologies	“I wasn’t very keen before—but it is true that now, with the tablet, they write to me and I can see my daughter”

). Different triangulation techniques were applied to guarantee the data quality, validity, and accuracy: (1) across researchers—the interviews were carried out and analysed by different specialists; (2) across methodologies—different techniques (in-depth interviews, observations, and field notes) were used for collecting data on the participants; and (3) across the different theoretical approaches on which the inductive method was based. One of the members of the research team coded the initial categories of analysis, following an inductive-deductive approach (Peacock 1986; Pope 2000). Two researchers examined, analysed, and re-interpreted the interviews, while the third one arbitrated in any discrepancies, thus completing the triangulation.

The project was approved by the Bioethics and Biosafety Committee of the University of Extremadura (Ref. 138b/2020). The study was conducted in accordance with the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki and the Belmont Report.

3. Definition and Uses of Loneliness and Technologies

This article explores two of the main themes emerging from our research: on the one hand, respondents’ emic definitions of loneliness; and, on the other, their understanding of what “technology” is, the ways in which technological devices are used, and to what extent they can help alleviate or even overcome feelings of loneliness (Table 2).

3.1. Emotional Loneliness, Social Loneliness

Our study participants’ definitions and narratives are in line with key categories described in traditional literature on loneliness. We could define loneliness as an emotion that arises from the lack of social relationships or dissatisfaction with the absence of what were once basic social relationships—centred around a partner or, more important, in the rituals and spaces where social life used to take place when the community had close ties and more interaction with their members.

Loneliness is defined as an intimate experience of absence. Respondents referred to this feeling as “lack of compaña” (companionship)—a feeling of missing the interpersonal experience of sharing your life with the “other” within the intimate confines of the household. This perception of loneliness is grounded in emotional evaluations and appears together with several negative feelings. Often, respondents expressed feelings of sadness and sorrow at the loss or protracted absence of a loved one. Loneliness appears thus to be inextricably linked to nostalgia, to times past, and an enjoyable life near those who are not here anymore. It can be associated with certain moments which trigger particularly poignant memories and longing. This loneliness is accepted as some sort of burden, almost like a sentencing. Therefore, it is felt that attempts to help alleviate the lack of companionship must be rejected. Those who live alone must accept it as if this was, for older adults, an unavoidable fate.

Look, on New Year’s Eve—I really struggled, because that was the first year that I had dinner alone, at home. And I didn’t want to go to somebody else’s—as I said, “I am not going to another family when they are celebrating together, while I do not have a family”

(Luz, 71 years old)

Gender is a factor that may mediate different ways of perceiving, describing, and coping with loneliness. In our research, gender differences emerge through different experiences of loneliness. Female participants tended to offer more personal assessments of intimate, close experiences of loneliness—for which they seemed to be better prepared, with better coping strategies. In comparison, male subjects seemed to struggle more in the private sphere. In their case, the private space of their homes was left empty—completely devoid of companionship: “But perhaps a man is more lonely than a woman because of course. he has friends (…) but the house is also more of a burden for him, the meals are more of a burden for him” (María, 78 years old). For female participants, by contrast, being left alone in their homes was not seen as such a big burden. “For men, their house is a total disaster, they have a few drinks and then go to the sofa, drinking is easy. Women don’t drink unless you’ve got the old habit” (Victor, 84 years old). It is possible, however, that the differences perceived in their narratives were due to methodological bias—perhaps male narratives regarding emotions tend to be expressed in a more succinct, less nuanced way.

There is a poor man living all alone—as there are everywhere. And women do not go to their houses, or they go less often. When a woman is left alone, she always has compaña [company]—all her [female] neighbours and everybody visit and give compaña

(Ana, 83 years old)

At the same time, there is also a kind of loneliness that is defined in relation to the absence of “others”. This is a perception of loneliness that stems from the “impossibility of meeting other people”, where “people” represent a metonymy that stands for a previous social and cultural life defined by routine and tradition. This kind of loneliness refers to the loss of social spaces and rituals, and a close-knit communal social life. This perception was more frequent among male participants. Men narratives dwelt on the loss of companionship at the local bar, or the empty seats at their card games. A decline in the number of festivities and celebrations, as well as in the number of participants in them, is noted, with an increasing loss of aspects related to ritual and encounter with others in community spaces. Or the school that had to close due to lack of children. Or the shops where they would buy their groceries, as well as chatting “about tomatoes and life”. Or the increasing emptiness in the church pews. This kind of loneliness thus refers to the disappearance of “social happiness”, i.e., a close-knit community and a way of life shared with other village dwellers. Loneliness appears as a feeling stemming from the contrast between a present marked by absence and a past characterised by a full social life. This was summarised in a recurring assertion: “this village feels like it is dead” (Manuel, 84 years old). Some participants relate this to the current lack of children in the villages, in contrast to their own populous childhood:

Back then, when my husband and I were at school, there were thirty-two or thirty-three of us children here. A few of us were from here, others came from a village now abandoned, where there is nobody left (…) And also over there, over there by the rocky hilltops. And from here, you see, there were a few of us… But now there is not a single child left

(Luisa, 82 years old)

To what extent can technological devices help alleviate this situation in this combined scenario of loneliness and depopulation?

3.2. Analogue Ageing in Rural Contexts

Utopian assertions advocating technology as a vaccine against the loneliness epidemic can conflict with the reality of the rural localities where our fieldwork was conducted. In the case of loneliness described as the absence of “the other”, the emotional loneliness experienced within the home, technology seems to help alleviate, or at least distract, from these feelings. “I have the radio there in the kitchen, but I like television very much, because I am alone, I have no one and I put on my television, and it is my companion” (Sabina, 84 years old).

Indeed, most of the respondents admitted having a direct, almost constant, exposure to technological devices. However, most of these were analogue devices. Regarding care services, one of the most common innovations in rural areas was the adoption of telecare devices. This usually means a device with a button that can be worn around the neck as a pendant, or, in more recent years, as a bracelet. This device is connected to a centrally managed healthcare service provider, which is also responsible for emergency responses. Service providers can also make regular phone calls to check on the person living alone, or to provide conversation and alleviate potential feelings of loneliness.

When my mother died, my father stayed in their home. That’s all he wanted—to stay at home. So the people from Red Cross gave him that gadget in case something happened, which he could wear around his neck. And he never took it off. Back then they used to phone him, too

(Rosana, 68 years old)

However, for our participants, the technological device which was most used—and the one with higher “therapeutic” values—was the television. In their homes, televisions and radios were switched on early in the mornings. Some of them had a device in each of the rooms where they spent most of their day. For instance, during our visits to their homes it was noticed that the radios were usually in the kitchen while the television occupied a central position in the sitting room. They were usually switched on even if nobody was paying attention to them:

The television—because you hear it while you are around doing things, cleaning. So you can hear something going on. Different conversations—some you listen to, some you don’t. You want politics, you switch to [channel] six. You want gossip, you switch to [channel] five. You have plenty to choose from, so you don’t waste time

(Luz, 71 years old)

Their function is not necessarily informative, but they are not simply used as a pastime or for entertainment either. Those technological devices play a palliative role, standing in for the missed one. Radios and televisions occupy a space otherwise only filled with loneliness. Technology, then, appears as an element of companionship. It makes up for the loss of social relationships and the increasing silence, occupying a space that has become empty.

Normally, for me, it is the television—I don’t listen to the radio. It helps me escape, it is almost as if I wasn’t alone—others might have also told you this, the television is an ugly machine, whatever, but… It keeps you company. That’s how I feel, and others might have said this already, because this is just the way it is

(Julia, 77 years old)

The voices of the radio hosts, or the panellists in television morning talk shows, fill many mornings. Sometimes they are used as a background while people carry out everyday routines, and sometimes for those who have to stay at home due to their restricted mobility. Their constant presence turns them into something more than electronic devices. In the case of televisions, the human faces behind the screen give them an almost human quality, turning them into a part of the daily routines. Switched on all day, the voices emanating from them pervade the home to the point where both the presenters and the device turn into a familial presence. “I like to switch on this channel at six o’clock, because the young lad there, he looks just like my grandson” (Ana, 83 years old). Since perhaps there is no possibility of seeing the grandson who migrated many years ago, the television provides an apt substitute.

The telly—I have it on all day. The telly, I get up (…) there, it is on. Because the telly, for me—it is my life. I hear the conversations. I’ll tell you this, don’t ask me what I have been watching (…) But the telly is one of the most important things in my house. I tell you, I could not be without it. I could do without a washing machine, but not the telly—I know you won’t believe it

(Francisca, 75 years old)

However, the intimate sphere of the home is only one of the spaces where loneliness among older adults is more poignant. Once they leave their homes, there is no use for analogue technology. Interventionist proposals that advocate the introduction of “new” technologies instead of analogue devices have, however, little consideration for restoring their lost “social happiness”.

3.3. Limitations to the Introduction of Digital Technology

The adoption of technology is generally limited to analogue devices, most of them did not use information and communications technology (ICT) at all. Although there has been, in recent years, a policy effort to improve digital connectivity and literacy in rural areas, this has not been reflected in more widespread use yet. Our respondents mentioned several limitations that were cutting them out from the digital world. For instance, one of our participants cited the difficulties experienced when trying to use the touch-sensitive screen of his smartphone, due to his unsteady hands. Another mentioned that “the [phone’s] buttons have a life of their own” (María, 78 years old). Indeed, when this participant showed us how she used her mobile phone, we noticed how she involuntarily kept pressing the touch screen with her fingers as she held the device. Most of the respondents insisted that their age added difficulties to learning ICT, as if old age was an insurmountable obstacle to their ability to use digital technologies. As they said, “at our age” it was impossible to learn new things:

I often get phone calls, from the bank, or the electricity company, and they say “if you were to move to online [billing] it would be cheaper, I could take these away”. But… How am I going to manage that, at my age?—Me, dealing with online―? Come on, it is too late…

(Manuel, 84 years old)

Old age is central to discourses which reject the possibility of digital inclusion. Respondents refuse to adopt “new technologies”, despite being aware of the benefits of their use. For instance, instant messaging applications can open new spaces for interaction with those who have moved away, thus reducing emerging feelings of loneliness. Besides the age-related problems mentioned before, there is also a limitation in the respondents’ negative perception of their own abilities, which they do not even want to address. Analogue phones are still their preferred option, and phone calls are considered enough, and easier.

I really do not want it. I can manage the mobile. I can phone… I do not need that WhatsApp, if I need to phone anybody I just do it, I have the numbers written down and that’s it. Because this lassie, she has also put my sons in the mobile too… But I—with things like this—no…

(María, 78 years old)

A small number of participants do use the Internet and have included it in their daily routines. For those who dare try, and overcome their limitations, social networks open a new space for entertainment and distraction. This, however, is not perceived as a substitute for the missed companionship. Narratives seem more concerned with analogue technologies rather than with the Internet and its uses. The prevalent idea is that digital technologies “are not for me”. Together with the limitations mentioned before, there is a perception that their use requires a constant dependence on others: “My daughter had to set up my mobile; even with the television—anything that I need, I have to ask her” (María, 78 years old).

Most of their narratives about the Internet are laced with heavy criticism, particularly its excessive presence. Visits from relatives who have a smartphone may not be as satisfying, as this technology tends to take up all their attention. These visits, which used to be a restorative balm for those living in loneliness, have now a diminished quality. Constant connection to social networks causes a shift in the visitors’ attention. This perception can also explain why older adults reject digital technologies.

When my daughter is visiting sometimes, I have to say, “Come on, I am going to completely ban mobiles at home—I feel I am talking, and nobody is listening”. We are having a meal, and the first thing people do is put these on the table. Well, I do not think that is right—a meal with friends and the first thing we do is leave these on top of the table

(María, 78 years old)

This excessive presence of digital technologies is, for many respondents, alienating. Instead of being perceived as a positive quality, fostering an interest in learning about them, this continuous presence creates rejection. Even for those who are digitally literate and use a smartphone daily, there is certain weariness about the digital world’s increasing hold on people’s lives. Consequently, the use of digital technologies for relationships and communication is still not widespread in these small villages. Indeed, a certain degree of rejection can be perceived in small actions, anticipating small changes. For instance, one of the respondents expressed this opinion when talking about the village council’s use of instant messaging applications:

They really should know that you do not—for us, at our age, to put those things… What I mean is, they put the public notices up there instead of—they put them up in WhatsApp. What the heck… They should do the public notices as they used to before, for us old people

(Manuel, 84 years old)

The limitations to the use of ICT mentioned might be an obstacle to the implementation and wider acceptance of digital solutions proposed to address loneliness.

4. Discussion

Traditional definitions of loneliness have discussed the meaning of these complex feelings. Over the last few decades, different studies have aimed to create a taxonomy and define this complex concept. The aim of our study was not to try to replicate these definitions, but to find out how technology influences older adults’ loneliness, its uses, and meanings along with their experiences and perceptions. In recent years, a number of qualitative studies have explored the two sides of loneliness—private/emotional and public/social—particularly in rural contexts, where the separation between the private and public spheres can be less clear-cut (Roos and Malan 2012; Sanley et al. 2010). This has been confirmed by the respondents’ definitions noted during our research: on the one hand, the “lack of compaña [companionship]”, which indicates an intimate and emotional experience of loneliness; and on the other, the lack of “social happiness”, i.e., a consequence of unsatisfactory social relationships. Therefore, it is important to go beyond the reductionist nature of labels and methodological problems (Rivero Jiménez et al. 2021), and aim to explore its causes and effects in different cultural contexts (Valtorta and Hanratty 2016).

This lack of “social happiness” is often related to the disappearance of certain traditionally symbolic relationships around meetings with others in the community. The disappearance of these types of meetings and festivities can be linked with the disappearance of the village. As Han (2020) points out, the space of the symbolic as the medium in which community is generated and through which it is transmitted is disappearing, resulting, in agreement with Mary Douglas (1996), in a progressive atomisation of society.. These rituals and festivities could serve, at this time, as a small oasis to fight against loneliness. Some studies have pointed out how participation in rituals, especially those related to eating and drinking, are an effective means of maintaining social contacts and combating feelings of loneliness among older people (Pettigrew and Roberts 2008). In a research study developed in Spain on subjective well-being related to Christmas festivities, it was noted that participation in rituals was high and satisfactory, and that satisfaction with rituals had an impact on positive affect, life satisfaction, and positive family climate, while frequency of participation was more relevant for social support and low perceived loneliness (Páez et al. 2011). It seems clear, at least in our context, that the loss of social life and rituality has a relationship with loneliness that should be further studied and recorded.

One of the contributions of this paper is related to the ways in which loneliness is expressed based on gender differences. Our research has found significant differences with the way loneliness is experienced, as there is more focus on the private space, and especially in the way women are better prepared and have better coping strategies for dealing with loneliness. Previous research on loneliness and gender has pointed out how men experience loneliness differently from women and find it more difficult to combat loneliness (Franklin et al. 2019), in part due to gendered constructs around the public sphere. Widowhood rates, which can influence feelings of loneliness, increase in old age for both genders, but there are significant differences in the way they experience it. Thus, most widowed women tend to exhibit characteristics of resilience compared to widowed men, who tend to be more vulnerable to the effects of widowhood (Donio-Bellegarde 2017). For male participants in a study on gender and masculinity, loneliness was not always or necessarily a feeling, but rather a role to be accepted and to which there was little room for opposition (Ratcliffe et al. 2021). Our research coincides with these previous studies, although more research is needed on the gendered construction of feelings of loneliness, and on the effectiveness of gendered strategies for coping with loneliness.

An analysis of the existing literature reveals an increasing number of studies that stress the importance of digital technology in maintaining social interactions and improving emotional well-being, particularly in rural communities, which are at higher risk of social isolation (Berg et al. 2017; Hayes et al. 2019). Some studies point to the need to understand more about the digital identification of older adults, thus measuring their degree of digital inclusion through scales (Muñoz-Rodríguez et al. 2020). In the case of our study, without the application of these scales, it seems that most participants feel that their identity lies outside this digital world. The thesis of Tichenor et al. (1970) suggests that as new methods of information dissemination emerge, people of lower socio-economic status have less access to these media than those of higher status seems to be confirmed. The regions of Extremadura and Alentejo are among those with the lowest GDPs in their countries, which, together with the age or rural variables, may further reinforce the idea of inequality in terms of material access to the digital world. Most older people in these rural contexts earn less than the minimum wage, with very low incomes among those who are widowed. Problems of social structure seem to weigh in on this issue as much as ideological or age factors.

Our study suggests that pre-existing access difficulties and limitations are a crucial aspect in the adoption of technology among older or rural populations. For instance, our participants’ narratives stressed the importance attributed to their age as a limiting factor when trying to learn new and complex technologies. Other studies (Boyd et al. 2017) have also described dexterity limitations which affect older adults’ use of technological devices. In our context, there is also what Ball et al. (2019) call the “physical-digital divide”. Older people point out the discomfort that can be caused by the fact that their relatives around them are using mobile phones when they visit them, which can lead to increased distance and isolation for them. Participants in our study, for example, relied heavily on television as a means to feel less isolated. In this context, digital technology is not seen as part of the solutions. Specialised literature emphasises the importance of considering developers’ expectations when working on technological solutions for older adults’ healthcare and well-being. Perceptions of usability and usefulness among the target audience must also be taken into account (Nikou et al. 2020). Our research findings coincide with others (Liddle et al. 2020), which also points out the importance for the design of technological solutions to understand the particularities of the local context and reduce the emphasis on technology as the interface between people.

Difficulty in learning to use technology was identified by Marston et al. (2019), along with negative feelings and lack of interest, as one of the detractors to technology use. Studies carried out in Spanish contexts suggest that perceived usefulness and attitudinal components of behaviour are key parameters to consider when trying to promote a more active adoption of technology among older adults (Menéndez Álvarez-Dardet et al. 2020). Some studies point out how older people are consistent in their use of technological tools, although difficulties due to cognition limit their interactions more than problems related to skills or learning to use ICTs (Sayago and Blat 2009). In a study with older Portuguese people, Barbosa Neves and Amaro (2012) point out how most of the older people face difficulties: lack of digital literacy, lack of access to a computer, and problems of accessibility and usability, as well as a lack of confidence due to their age. Other studies point out that social networks can serve to recover contacts from the past (e.g., Facebook), maintain daily communication (e.g., WhatsApp), and shorten distances with other people (e.g., Skype), once they manage to understand how communication tools work (Pérez García et al. 2019). However, evidence on technology use among rural elders is low, and our research helps to expand the number of studies in these contexts. Most studies are conducted in urban contexts, traditionally with higher rates of technological literacy. Furthermore, we believe that in specific rural contexts such as ours, the class component further increases the technology gap for older people. Older adults in urban contexts might be more receptive to new technologies, such as the use of smartphones (Happio-Kirk et al. 2020). However, in the rural contexts where our fieldwork was conducted, analogue language and devices were still preferred, and this must be considered in the design of any responses.

Experience is culture-specific and subject to changes (Buz Delgado 2013); thus, the design of future public health strategies must be mindful that these can have different meanings for different people. Literature on the relationships between technology and society has addressed social and cultural problems regarding its use (Dutton and Reisdorf 2019; Wilson et al. 2019), including in the specific context of older people (Barnard et al. 2013; Casamayou 2017; Martín Martín 2017). However, these have also noted the non-inclusive nature of technology, which has contributed to widening social, ethnic, cultural (Wilson et al. 2019), and gender-based inequalities and divides (Bray 2007). In contrast to the optimistic nature of some proposals addressing loneliness, we argue that it is important to moderate expectations and consider each challenge from a contextual point of view.

5. Conclusions

Our article contributes to the knowledge of experiences of loneliness in the context of the ageing, rural population of Extremadura and Alentejo—where existing literature on loneliness is very limited. We have also looked at the ability of older people to navigate a digital world. Solutions to the emerging problem of loneliness need to be addressed from a social perspective, querying pre-existing categories and methodologies used to analyse its effect on health and well-being. Understanding the subjective experiences that underpin loneliness and how it is constructed is a key factor in addressing this issue—as it is attending to the social and cultural specificities of each context. Only in this way can its causes be properly understood, informing and shaping meaningful solutions beyond individual interventions. Strategies based on complex technologies can result in rejection of contexts where the use of digital devices is not widespread. Potential solutions must, therefore, integrate expert knowledge and emic perceptions among target audiences.

From an ethnographic perspective, our study provides a particular and contextualised analysis of the experience of older people living in rural areas that have been dramatically affected by depopulation processes. By focusing on emic experiences, a definition of loneliness emerges that is anchored in the classic perspective of imbalanced (inadequate) expectations, while also relating to social transformations and conditions of experience. In this context, digital technological solutions cease to be the utopian horizon described in some of the literature, particularly when confronted with social actors whose experiences are firmly anchored in analogue practices.