Doctors often give an advice to the elderly to be physically active so that they can remain fit and can live a healthier and longer life. However, according to Katherine Sellen, a post-doctoral researcher at the Technologies for Aging Gracefully Lab, there is also a need for the elderly to be socially active apart from just being physically active.
A recent research shows that one in four users aged 65 years or older use social networking sites. These sites like facebook are acting as a powerful support network by helping the elderly connect with their peers from the past. Moreover, these senior citizens getting involved in social networking sites has helped bridge the generational gap. Another benefit for the elderly to login to these sites is that most of them find support from their wide group of friends online by discussing an talking about the similar problems and issues that they are facing as they are growing older.
Therefore the preconceived notion that our grand parents are too old for social media is wrong rather I would say no one is ever too old to join it. In fact a research showed that the strongest growth of facebook users in the past few years have been users age 65 and older. So don’t be surprised if you get “poked” by your grandfather or grandmother soon.