[Air-L] Social media for elderly people

Wed Dec 15 16:18:27 PST 2010

Perhaps this research centre and these papers may be of interest.
n

research centre:
http://infotech.monash.edu.au/research/groups/itnr/publications/categories/older-bb.html

papers:
Williamson, K. (1998) Discovered by chance:  The role of incidental
information acquisition in an ecological model of informatin use. Library
and Information Science Research, Vol. 20, No.1, pp. 23-40.

Williamson, K. & Asla, T. (2009) Information behavior of people in the
fourth age: Implications for the conceptualization of information literacy.
Library and Information Science Research, Vol. 31, No.2, pp. 76-83.

On Thu, Dec 16, 2010 at 10:12 AM, Di Shaw <di.shaw at adelaide.edu.au> wrote:

> Hello Everyone,
>
> I would like to introduce myself to this very supportive and knowledgeable
> community. My name is Diane Shaw (not sure what will show up when I hit the
> send
> button!), and I am doing a PhD at the University of Adelaide
> (Anthropology). I
> have recently completed 14 months of ethnographic fieldwork studying the
> online/offline social interactions of older people. My primary focus has
> been on
> Australians between the ages of 65 and 85 who are on a social networking
> site
> for older people (40 plus). Working closely with older people online and
> offline
> has been incredibly rewarding, and has produced some startling and exciting
> results. Significantly, being online and socially connected to others is an
> incredibly meaningful part of my participants’ everyday lives.
>
> A recent post from Kelly asking for references on social media and the
> “elderly”
> has prompted me to contribute to the list. I also had difficultly finding
> quality articles on older people using the Internet to connect socially.
> (As an
> aside, it is interesting to note that even the more senior of my
> participants
> (85 year olds) as well as the broader community in my study, do not
> consider
> themselves “elderly”, preferring the title of senior.) Listed, below, are
> some
> references that may be useful.
>
> Dell, P. (2008) Acting your age: a study of the relationship between online
> social interaction and identity in older adults. PhD thesis. Murdoch
> University
> Perth.
>
> Furlong, M. (1989) An electronic community for older adults: the seniorNet
> network. Journal of Communication, 39:145-53.
>
> Kanayama, T. (2003) Ethnographic research on the experience of Japanese
> elderly
> people online. New Media Society, 5:267-288.
>
> Malta, S. (2007). Love Actually! Older adults and their romantic Internet
> relationships. Australian Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society,
> 5(2):84-102.
>
> Mellor, D., Firth, L., and Moore, K. (2008). Can the Internet improve the
> well-being of the elderly. Aging International, 32:25-42.
>
> Stalp, M., Williams, R., Lynch, A. and Radina M. (2009). Conspicuously
> consuming: the Red Hat Society and midlife women’s identity. Journal of
> Contemporary Ethnography, 38(2):225-253.
>
> Torres, S. (2006). Different ways of understanding the construct of
> successful
> aging: Iranian immigrants speak about what aging well means to them.
> Journal
> Cross Cultural Gerontology, 21:1-23.
>
> Xie, B. (2003). Older adults, computers, and the Internet: future
> directions,
> Retrieved  20 July 2009, from www.gerontechjournal.net, 2(4):289-305.
>
> Xie, B. (2007). Using the Internet for offline relationship formation.
> Social
> Science Computer Review, 25(3):396-404.
>
>
> I would just like to add that it has been my experience that in order to
> understand older peoples’ participation with social networking sites (as
> well as
> the Internet generally – emails, banking, information), it is important not
> to
> isolate the use of current technology (computers and the Internet) from
> older
> peoples’ past life experiences with using technology in general (work
> experience, ham radio, pen-palling, cameras, telephones, washing machines,
> and
> so on), or to ignore what we already know about social interaction amongst
> older
> people (for example, support and sharing of knowledge – see Myerhoff, B.
> (1979)
> Number our days. New York: E.P. Dutton).
>
> Well, I’ve been a tad verbose! I hope the references provided help with the
> task.
>
> Cheers, Di
>
>
> di.shaw at adelaide.edu.au
> Phd Candidate
> University of Adelaide
>
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Natalya Godbold
PhD Candidate (Human Information Behaviour / Health Communication)
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
University of Technology, Sydney

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