HOMELIFE CONNECTION SUMMER 2016
Seniors are jumping on board Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more as they realize it is fun and provides real benefits. Are your senior loved ones participating? Here are five ways social media is beneficial for seniors.
1.Social Media Keeps 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 between generations than most would experience through calls.
2. Family Photo and Video Sharing
With the overwhelming majority of photographs now digital, sharing of memories is now easier than ever through social media. Increasingly, 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 memories 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 YouTube, Facebook and other sites.
3. Online Coupons & 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 we’re seeking discount offerings by companies on their Facebook pages, coupons shared between Twitter users, or the deals offered in many communities on Groupon and like sites, just to name a few. Not only can going social be fun for our senior loved ones, but provide savings as well!
4. Family Peace of Mind
Seniors and their families often live far apart today, which can lead to anxiety on both sides, particularly when the elder family members are living on their own. Social media gives seniors and their family caregivers 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 Engagement and Belonging
The importance of so cializing 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. Just Scratching the Surface There are even more reasons if those five are not enough for you to get your senior loved ones engaged with social networks and the world available to them there. What are YOUR reasons for being on social media, if you are? If you’re not, you might just find there are benefits for you as well as your loved ones! Let’s keep helping our senior loved ones get connected, too!
by Barry Birkett
http://seniorcarecorner.com/5-benefits-of-social-media-for-seniors
