MOVE over, teenagers! Lolos and lolas are now on Facebook and it seems that they are here to stay!
According to a new report from Pew Internet & American Life project, 43 percent of internet users aged 65 and older say they use social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
This is a big leap, compared to 5 years ago. In 2008, only 1 percent were using social media.
The numbers have tripled in the last four years. Back in 2009, only 13 percent of them were into these social networking sites. They used to be the domain of teens and young adults.
The reason behind this phenomenal jump in the seniors’ use of social media seems universal and cuts across cultures.
“Older people in America are looking to maintain ties with their family, particularly those who live far away,” said Aaron Smith at Pew Research. “They want to see pictures of their grandchildren.”
Seniors also look up old friends and connect with people who share similar hobbies. The majority of seniors on social media are using Facebook, Smith said.
This is also very true among our kababayans, especially those living in the United States.
Our New York Correspondent Don Tagala filed a report on Balitang America, which illustrated how important engagement in social media has been to some lolas living in the East Coast.
One of them is Juliet Oberlin, 79, who lives independently in Rahway, New Jersey. She says living alone has its perks, but it can sometimes lead to boredom.
But when Juliet or “Mama Yette” was introduced to Facebook in 2011, she said she could never stop posting pictures and updating her daily status.
“You know with this Facebook and Instagram you get in touch with your family — from your smallest one to the oldest one. Even if they’re not around you, you will know what they’re doing, where they ate, who’s their new girlfriend,” Mama Yette said.
This self-proclaimed Facebook and Instagram addict is a retired nurse . Like many kababayans her age, Mama Yette spends most of her time watching her favorite ‘teleserye’ on The Filipino Channel, cooking her own meals and sharing everything else that happens to her on social media.
“Ay naku, Diyos mio, pagkatayo ko, pagkaupo ko na sa kama, pipindutin ko na ang aking Facebook. O ano ba may nag-reply ba sa aking pinost, pag nag-post ako ng isa next morning I’ll see ang dami ng like, ang daming comment and I’m happy,” Mama Yette enthused.
“I’m very thankful to Facebook, because it made me alert, aware of everything,” Mama Yette added.
To help other seniors, Mama Yette would like to form a support group that would teach seniors how to use social media to better their lives by connecting to the ones they love — no matter how great the distance between them.
The website SeniorCareCorner.com summarizes how social media help seniors:
1. Social media can keep families close
“I wish I heard more often from my children/grandchildren” is a common refrain of seniors. You’d think that with seemingly everyone carrying their own phone, calls to senior loved ones would be more common than ever.
However, those phones are used less for making phone calls than for connecting by other means, particularly social media. More and more seniors are realizing that going where their family members are going, most frequently Facebook, makes it easier to link up and keep up with what is going on in the lives of loved ones.
It also makes for more frequent and comfortable conversations (or “convos”) between generations than most would experience if the phones were used simply for calls. So, yes, the first reason social media is for seniors is to stay closer to family.
2. Social photo and video sharing
With the overwhelming majority of photographs now digital, sharing of memories is now easier than ever through social media. More and more pictures are shared every day by users of Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and other social media sites.
Grandparents can go online now and see pictures taken just moments before by their grandchildren, creating a feeling of closeness that was never possible with mailed photos.
Home movies have always brought family to life even more than photos, but video sharing took effort and saw delays, even with video cameras and VCRs. With many phones now coming with a video camera, even more videos are being taken by family members and, like pictures, being quickly posted online. Seniors are now getting fresh “home movies” on You Tube, Facebook and other sites.
Yes, some of those videos are not always activities you want to think of your grandchildren as doing, but that is their life — even more so than the snippets Mom or Dad might have captured in the past with their movie cameras.
3. Coupons(!) and other discounts
Everyone likes saving money (not just seniors) though for many older Americans on fixed incomes getting a deal is essential and not just a fun thing to do. Social media provides access to many opportunities to save money, whether it’s discount offerings by companies on their Facebook pages, coupons shared between Twitter users, or the deals offered in many communities. Not only can going social be fun, but profitable as well.
4. Peace of mind
Seniors and their families often live far apart today, which can lead to anxiety on both sides, particularly when the older family members are living on their own. We have all heard, or even experienced, stories of elderly family members falling in their homes, missing critical prescription drugs, or going without eating for days — all without any knowing until it became a serious problem.
Social media gives seniors and their families a convenient way to check in daily, or on whatever frequency is desired, creating peace of mind on both ends of the communications.
5. Community belonging
The importance of socializing as part of a community cannot be overstated, particularly for seniors spending much of their time living isolated at home. It can be critical for those unable to get out of the house to be with others. Social media provides the opportunity to have and be a friend, to congregate without leaving the house, to never be alone even when you are the only one in the house.
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
