Social Media Use in Older Age – Developing Best

Practices

Anja K Leist

University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, Netherlands

Kick-off Symposium: ‘Engaging generations...’ at the

IFA Global Conference on Ageing, Prague, Czech

Republic, May 30, 2012.

Social Media Use in Older Age

1. Effects of Social Media Use

2. Facilitating Factors in ICT Use

3. Developing Best Practices

4. An Example AAL Research Project Providing Access to

Social Media for Older Adults

Effects of Social Media Use of Older

Adults

1. Social Connectedness/Sense of Belongingness

• Alleviating loneliness by connecting with existing and new

contacts

• Getting support

2. “Empowerment”

• Self-efficacy, control beliefs

How to Engage Older Adults in Social

Media Use?

• Existing Barriers – Privacy issues

– Views towards existing social networking sites

– Access: No social contacts facilitating access to ICT, accessibility issues

• Facilitating Factors – For ICT use in general: openness to ICT use, ICT experience

– For social media use: Disinhibition effect; self-disclosure easier via ICT than in eye-to-eye contact

Developing Best Practices to Facilitate

Social Media Use in Older Age

• Show added value

Benefits such as information, support, emotional rewards

Benefits vary according to participation in network!

• Transfer between virtual and real world

– Use existing real-world social structures

– Use existing interests/needs

An Example of an AAL Project Providing

Access to Social Media for Older Adults

An Example of an AAL Project Providing Access

to Social Media for Older Adults

V2me (Virtual Coach reaches out to me)

• A mobile platform-based friendship enrichment and loneliness

prevention program

• Virtual Coach acting as mediator and friend

• Online Social Networking

– Via existing networking sites and online communication channels

– Features specifically designed for online social networking: Interest

groups/calendar function

– Social contacts stored in the system: can be activated by user, can be

established pro-actively by the system

– Social circles as basis for friendship enrichment program

V2me – The Social Circle

V2me – Initiating Contact with Others

V2me – Proactive System Engages User

Thank you for your attention!

Research supported by a FLARE 2 postdoctoral grant

funded by the National Research Fund Luxembourg.

V2me work presented on behalf of the V2me

consortium funded under the AAL Joint Programme.

www.v2me.org

anja.leist@uni.lu