Social Affairs Reporter

Many of us are familiar with the chill of horror that slips down our spine when a younger, cooler person casually mentions a technological phenomenon we know nothing about.

And there are people who still think the sole use for a Tumblr is gin and tonic, and tweeting is best left to birds.

But it is not only older people who worry about keeping up with mercurial trends – one in five young Australians under 35 says they will be left behind by technological advances in the future.

The Australian Institute of Family Studies surveyed 1600 people to find out if they felt left behind in the rapid-fire advance of technology, and a substantial minority – 40 per cent – said they did.

"The volume of information has increased almost beyond comprehension, and if even these comparatively young Australians feel left behind, that makes the future seem daunting," said the institute's assistant director, Ruth Weston.

There was an even split between those who were worried about the future and those who were not, but the overall pattern that emerged was the older the person was, the more likely they were to be worried about their ability to keep up.

Most people under 35 – about 70 per cent – said they were keeping up currently, and more than half of those between 35 and 49 said they also were currently on track when it came to new technologies.

But the majority in the group aged 60 and above said they were not keeping up with current trends, and the same percentage were worried about being left behind in the future.

Generally, the higher a person's education, the less concerned they were about their ability to keep up.