Internet life of people aged 50+

The article considers the issue of Internet usage by people 50+ from two angles: in statistical and interdisciplinary approaches. Statistical analysis shows that in the Russian Federation most elderly people are not involved in the virtual world yet. State and business structures are taking measures to train retired people in computer and Internet literacy that would improve their quality of life and reduce the intergenerational cultural gap. But these actions are not based on understanding of the nature of the emergence and development of informatization, and they do not answer the question, who of the elderly people and why are not using Internet. The leading role in interdisciplinary studies is attributed to personal values, informal rules and relations. The authors make an attempt to show the difference between the statistical and interdisciplinary approaches in the assessment of the problem and the depth of investigation.