Older Netizens Flocking To Social Networks – Are Their Kids Responsible?
When I was living in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, on the California side, I had a teaching journey between 1998 to 2006. I call it a journey because many of the people who took my computer classes became clients as well as close friends. I was teaching community education classes on how to use the computer from beginning to advanced classes. I also taught classes on surfing the Internet, emailing, Microsoft Word, Excel and also Quicken. The classes were mainly designed for seniors, who expressed one common reason why they were taking the classes. Their kids had given them a computer and wanted their parents to get on the Internet so they could send email. Even as I type these words the thought of emailing sounds ancient. LOL
In a recent PC World article it stated that according to a recent PEW report. surfers over the age of 50 have increased their social networking presence. The article states that:
The sudden change in attitudes towards social media among our oldest surfers likely has a lot to do with its saturation among younger demographics. 86 percent of those between 18-29, and 61 percent of those 30-49 are now participants, and the older demographics are likely the parents and grandparents of those younger users.
With families becoming ever more spread out, using Facebook or Twitter is likely the best and cheapest way to stay in touch. In addition, these older users may be executives and using a professional social network such as LinkedIn as part of their careers as well.
E-mail is still heavily used in the over-50 crowd, differentiating it from younger users who have by and large turned to social networking instead to communicate.
So once again, the children of seniors have prodded their parents into joining social networking sites.
What do you think?
Comments welcome.
