Hostname: page-component-f554764f5-fnl2l Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-10T22:42:45.091Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Social networking sites and older users – a systematic review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 April 2013

Tobias Nef ,
Raluca L. Ganea ,
René M. Müri  and
Urs P. Mosimann
Tobias Nef
Affiliation:
Gerontechnology and Rehabilitation Group, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland CCLM–Center for Cognition, Learning, and Memory, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Raluca L. Ganea
Affiliation:
Gerontechnology and Rehabilitation Group, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
René M. Müri
Affiliation:
Gerontechnology and Rehabilitation Group, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland CCLM–Center for Cognition, Learning, and Memory, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland Division of Cognitive and Restorative Neurology, Department of Neurology, University Hospital Inselspital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Urs P. Mosimann*
Affiliation:
Gerontechnology and Rehabilitation Group, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland CCLM–Center for Cognition, Learning, and Memory, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland Department of Old Age Psychiatry, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Urs P. Mosimann, M.D., Ph.D., Professor for Old Age Psychiatry, University Hospital of Psychiatry, Gerontechnology and Rehabilitation Group, University of Bern, Murtenstrasse 21, 3010 Bern, Switzerland. Phone: +41 31 632 88 17; Fax: +41 31 632 89 44. Email: [email protected].
Get access

Abstract

Background: Social networking sites can be beneficial for senior citizens to promote social participation and to enhance intergenerational communication. Particularly for older adults with impaired mobility, social networking sites can help them to connect with family members and other active social networking users. The aim of this systematic review is to give an overview of existing scientific literature on social networking in older users.

Methods: Computerized databases were searched and 105 articles were identified and screened using exclusion criteria. After exclusion of 87 articles, 18 articles were included, reviewed, classified, and the key findings were extracted. Common findings are identified and critically discussed and possible future research directions are outlined.

Results: The main benefit of using social networking sites for older adults is to enter in an intergenerational communication with younger family members (children and grandchildren) that is appreciated by both sides. Identified barriers are privacy concerns, technical difficulties and the fact that current Web design does not take the needs of older users into account.

Conclusions: Under the conditions that these problems are carefully addressed, social networking sites have the potential to support today's and tomorrow's communication between older and younger family members.

Keywords

social mediasocial networking sitesolder adultsWeb 2.0Facebook
Type
Review Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 25 , Issue 7 , July 2013 , pp. 1041 - 1053
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Alpass, F. M. and Neville, S. (2003). Loneliness, health and depression in older males. Aging and Mental Health, 7, 212–216. doi:10.1080/1360786031000101193.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Andreassen, C. S., Torsheim, T., Brunborg, G. S. and Pallesen, S. (2012). Development of a Facebook Addiction Scale. Psychological Reports, 110, 501–517. doi:10.2466/02.09.18.PR0.110.2.501-517.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ayalon, L. and Shiovitz-Ezra, S. (2011). The relationship between loneliness and passive death wishes in the second half of life. International Psychogeriatrics, 1, 1–9. doi:10.1017/S1041610211001384.Google Scholar
Barker, V. (2012). A generational comparison of social networking site use: the influence of age and social identity. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 74, 163–187. doi:10.2190/AG.74.2.d.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bassuk, S. S., Glass, T. A. and Berkman, L. F. (1999). Social disengagement and incident cognitive decline in community-dwelling elderly persons. Annals of internal medicine, 131, 165–173.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Béland, F., Zunzunegui, M. V., Alvarado, B., Otero, A. and Del Ser, T. (2005). Trajectories of cognitive decline and social relations. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 60, 320–330. doi:10.1093/geronb/60.6.P320.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brandtzæg, P. B. (2012). Social networking sites: their users and social implications – a longitudinal study. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 17, 467–488. doi:10.1111/j.1083–6101.2012.01580.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chou, W. H., Lai, Y. T. and Liu, K. H. (2010). Decent Digital Social Media for Senior Life: A Practical Design Approach. In 3rd IEEE International Conference on Computer Science and Information Technology (ICCSIT), (pp. 249–253). IEEE.Google Scholar
Chou, W. H., Lai, Y. T. and Liu, K. H. (2012). User requirements of social media for the elderly: a case study in Taiwan. Behaviour and Information Technology, 1–18, iFirst Article. doi:10.1080/0144929X.2012.681068.Google Scholar
Cornejo, R., Favela, J. and Tentori, M. (2010). Ambient displays for integrating older adults into social networking sites. Collaboration and Technology, 321–336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eggermont, S. and Vandebosch, H. (2009). Towards the desired future of elderly and ICT: policy recommendations based on a dialogue with senior citizens. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Sheraton New York, New York City, NY. doi:10.1007/s10202-005-0017-9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13, 210–230. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.x.Google Scholar
Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C. and Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook “friends”: social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12, 1143–1168. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00367.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erickson, L. B. (2011). Social Media, Social Capital, and Seniors: The Impact of Facebook on Bonding and Bridging Social Capital of Individuals over 65. AMCIS 2011 – Proceedings – All Submissions, Paper 85.Google Scholar
Farkas, P. A. (2010). Senior Social Platform – An Application Aimed to Reduce the Social and Digital Isolation of Seniors. In Proceedings of REAL CORP, Vienna.Google Scholar
Fees, B. S. and Bradshaw, M. H. (2003). PATH across the generations: older adults’ perceptions on the value of intergenerational contact. Care Management Journals, 4, 209–215.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gibson, L.et al. (2010). Designing social networking sites for older adults. In Proceeding BCS ‘10 of the 24th BCS Interaction Specialist Group Conference, British Computer Society, Swinton, UK, 186–194.Google Scholar
Giles, H., Hajek, C., Stoitsova, T. and Choi, C. W. (2010). Intergenerational communication satisfaction and age boundaries in Bulgaria and the United States. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 25, 133–147. doi:10.1007/s10823-010-9114-x.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harwood, J. (2007). Understanding Communication and Aging: Developing Knowledge and Awareness (344 pp.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. doi:10.4135/9781452225920.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holtzman, R. E.et al. (2004). Social network characteristics and cognition in middle-aged and older adults. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 59, 278–284. doi:10.1093/geronb/59.6.P278.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson, J. (2012). Social Networks Broken Down by Demographic. The Blog Herald. Available at: http://www.blogherald.com/2012/06/07/social-networks-broken-down-by-demographic-infographic/.Google Scholar
Joinson, A. N. (2008). Looking at, Looking up or Keeping up with People? Motives and Use of Facebook (pp. 1027–1036). In Proceedings of ACM CHI 2008 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York: ACM. doi:10.1145/1357054.1357213.Google Scholar
Jones, S., Fox, S., Internet, P. and Project, A. L. (2009). Generations Online in 2009. Washington, DC: Pew Internet & American Life Project.Google Scholar
Karimi, A. and Neustaedter, C. (2010). My Grandma Uses Facebook: Communication Practices of Older Adults in an Age of Social Media.Google Scholar
Katz, J. E. and Aspden, P. (1997). A nation of strangers? Communications of the ACM, 40, 81–86. doi:10.1145/265563.265575.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kittinger, R., Correia, C. J. and Irons, J. G. (2012). Relationship between Facebook use and problematic Internet use among college students. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15, 324–327. doi:10.1089/cyber.2010.0410.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kraut, R., Kiesler, S., Boneva, B., Cummings, J., Helgeson, V. and Crawford, A. (2002). Internet paradox revisited. Journal of social issues, 58, 49–74. doi:10.1111/1540-4560.00248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kraut, R., Patterson, M., Lundmark, V., Kiesler, S., Mukophdyay, T. and Scherlis, W. (1998). Internet paradox: a social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being? American psychologist, 53, 1017. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.53.9.1017.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kueider, A. M., Parisi, J. M., Gross, A. L. and Rebok, G. W. (2012). Computerized cognitive training with older adults: a systematic review. PLoS One, 7, e40588. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0040588.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
LaRose, R., Lin, C. A. and Eastin, M. S. (2003). Unregulated Internet usage: addiction, habit, or deficient self-regulation? Media Psychology, 5, 225–253. doi:10.1207/S1532785XMEP0503_01.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lehtinen, V., Näsänen, J. and Sarvas, R. (2009). A little silly and empty-headed: older adults’ understandings of social networking sites. In Proceeding of the 2009 British Computer Society Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, BCS-HCI 2009, Cambridge, United Kingdom, pp. 45–54.Google Scholar
Litwin, H. (2012). Physical activity, social network type, and depressive symptoms in late life: an analysis of data from the national social life, health and aging project. Aging and Mental Health, 16, 608–616. doi:10.1080/13607863.2011.644264.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lovett, G. (2011). Over 50s drive facebook growth. Marketing Week. Available at: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/over-50s-drive-facebook-growth-study-says/3027863.article.Google Scholar
Lucas, M.et al. (2011). Relation between clinical depression risk and physical activity and time spent watching television in older women: a 10-year prospective follow-up study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 174, 1017–1027. doi:10.1093/aje/kwr218.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Machold, C.et al. (2012). Social networking patterns/hazards among teenagers. Irish Medical Journal, 105, 151–152.Google ScholarPubMed
Maier, C., Laumer, S. and Eckhardt, A. (2011). Technology adoption by elderly people–an empirical analysis of adopters and non-adopters of social networking sites. Wirtschaftsinformatik Proceedings 2011, Paper 25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mazer, J. P., Murphy, R. E. and Simonds, C. J. (2007). I'll see you on “Facebook”: the effects of computer-mediated teacher self-disclosure on student motivation, affective learning, and classroom climate. Communication Education, 56, 1–17. doi:10.1080/03634520601009710.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKenna, K. Y., Green, A. S. and Gleason, M. E. (2002). Relationship formation on the Internet: what's the big attraction? Journal of social Issues, 58, 9–31. doi:10.1111/1540-4560.00246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLaughlin, D., Vagenas, D., Pachana, N. A., Begum, N. and Dobson, A. (2010). Gender differences in social network size and satisfaction in adults in their 70s. Journal of Health Psychology, 15, 671–679. doi:10.1177/1359105310368177.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mesch, G. S. (2012). Technology and youth. New Directions for Youth Development, 2012, 97–105. doi:10.1002/yd.20032.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mittal, M. K., Sloan, J. A. and Rabinstein, A. A. (2012). Facebook: can it be a diagnostic tool for neurologists? BMJ Case Reports, 2012. doi:10.1136/bcr-2012-006426.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J. and Altman, D. G. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the prisma statement. PLoS Med, 6, e1000097.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nervik, T., Dahl, Y. and Kofod-Petersen, A. (2011). The Value of Role Models in Design of Social Media for Elderly. Presented at 23rd International Conference of the European Federation for Medical Informatics, Oslo, Norway.Google Scholar
Nie, N. H., Hillygus, D. S. and Erbring, L. (2002). Internet use, interpersonal relations, and sociability. In: Wellman, B. and Haythornthwaite, C. (Eds.), The Internet in Everyday Life, pp. 213–243. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. doi:10.1002/9780470774298.ch7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norval, C. (2012). Understanding the incentives of older adults’ participation on social networking sites. ACM SIGACCESS Accessibility and Computing, 102, 25–29. doi:10.1145/2140446.2140452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nussbaum, J. F. and Coupland, J. (2004). Handbook of Communication and Aging Research. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. doi:10.1207/s15327027hc0804_4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pantic, I.et al. (2012). Association between online social networking and depression in high school students: behavioral physiology viewpoint. Psychiatria Danubina, 24, 90–93.Google ScholarPubMed
Richardson, M., Zorn, T. and Weaver, C. K. (2007). Not “getting-on”: older non-users’ meanings for computers. Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Communication Association, TBA, San Francisco, CA, 23 May 2007.Google Scholar
Rowe, J. W. and Kahn, R. L. (1997). Successful aging. The Gerontologist, 37, 433–440.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seeman, T. E., Lusignolo, T. M., Albert, M. and Berkman, L. (2001). Social relationships, social support, and patterns of cognitive aging in healthy, high-functioning older adults: Macarthur studies of successful aging. Health Psychology, 20, 243–255. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.20.4.243.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shklovski, I., Kraut, R. and Rainie, L. (2004). The Internet and social participation: contrasting cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 10. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2004.tb00226.x.Google Scholar
Steffens, D. C.et al. (2005). Biological and social predictors of long-term geriatric depression outcome. International Psychogeriatrics, 17, 41–56. doi:10.1017/S1041610205000979.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stoykova, R., Matharan, F., Dartigues, J. F. and Amieva, H. (2011). Impact of social network on cognitive performances and age-related cognitive decline across a 20-year follow-up. International Psychogeriatrics, 1, 1–8. doi:10.1017/S1041610211001165.Google Scholar
Subrahmanyam, K., Reich, S. M., Waechter, N. and Espinoza, G. (2008). Online and offline social networks: use of social networking sites by emerging adults. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29, 420–433. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2008.07.003.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sun, X., Lucas, H., Meng, Q. and Zhang, Y. (2011). Associations between living arrangements and health-related quality of life of urban elderly people: a study from China. Quality of Life Research, 20, 359–369. doi:10.1007/s11136–010–9752-z.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Teixeira, V. (2011). Improving Elderly Access to Audiovisual and Social Media, Using a Multimodal Human–Computer Interface. Porto, Portugal: Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto.Google Scholar
Tsai, T. and Chang, H. (2009). Sharetouch: a multi-touch social platform for the elderly. 11th IEEE International Conference on Computer-Aided Design and Computer Graphics, 2009 (pp. 557–560). IEEEGoogle Scholar
Tsai, T. H., Chang, H. T., Wong, A. and Wu, T. F. (2011). Connecting communities: designing a social media platform for older adults living in a senior village. Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Users Diversity, 6766 224–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsaousides, T., Matsuzawa, Y. and Lebowitz, M. (2011). Familiarity and prevalence of Facebook use for social networking among individuals with traumatic brain injury. Brain Injury, 25, 1155–1162. doi:10.3109/02699052.2011.613086.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Turkle, S. (1997). Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet. Simon and Schuster. doi:10.1207/s15327965pli0604_5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Beek, A. P., Frijters, D. H., Wagner, C., Groenewegen, P. P. and Ribbe, M. W. (2011). Social engagement and depressive symptoms of elderly residents with dementia: a cross-sectional study of 37 long-term care units. International Psychogeriatrics, 23, 625–633. doi:10.1017/S1041610210002061.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van der Post, L. F.et al. (2012). Social support and risk of compulsory admission: part IV of the Amsterdam study of acute psychiatry. Psychiatric Services, 63, 577–583. doi:10.1176/appi.ps.201100080.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Voils, C. I.et al. (2007). Five-year trajectories of social networks and social support in older adults with major depression. International Psychogeriatrics, 19, 1110–1124. doi:10.1017/S1041610207005303.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wellman, B., Haase, A. Q., Witte, J. and Hampton, K. (2001). Does the Internet increase, decrease, or supplement social capital? Social networks, participation, and community commitment. American Behavioral Scientist, 45, 436–455. doi:10.1177/00027640121957286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, K., Fornasier, S. and White, K. M. (2010). Psychological predictors of young adults’ use of social networking sites. Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking, 13, 173–177.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williams, A. and Nussbaum, J. F. (2001). Intergenerational Communication Across the Life Span. New Jersy: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Williams, K., Kemper, S. and Hummert, M. L. (2005). Enhancing communication with older adults: overcoming elderspeak. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 43, 12–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wire, N. (2010). Social Networks/Blogs Now Account for One in Every Four and a Half Minutes Online. Nielson Wire. Available at: http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/newswire/2010/social-media-accounts-for-22-percent-of-time-online.html.Google Scholar
Xie, B., Watkins, I., Golbeck, J. and Huang, M. (2012). Understanding and changing older adults’ perceptions and learning of social media. Educational Gerontology, 38, 282–296.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed