Please help me with my Revision

Reem Boushahri

Is Facebook Good Social Media for Older?

Facebook is an excellent social media network that offers engaging social services across generations including the older generations. Currently, Facebook has over one billion users worldwide across ages and the number continue to increase. Most people associate Facebook with the young generation. Because they are entirely comfortable with the use of Facebook. Some older people prefer using Facebook, in fact, from the year 2000 to the year 2009, the number of people who aged between 50 and 64 who use Facebook increased by 70%. Facebook is a good social network for older people because of the ability of sharing many things with family and friends, safety and security and it’s easy to use.

Facebook social media facilitate sharing of ideas, information, and connection of people with family and friends. As people age up, most of the social connections are cut. The link between colleagues, friends, and loved ones is reduced to a minimal or lost. This is because of the retirement and establishment of permanent places of dwellings different from the original residential places. The older people also get weak to get involved in traveling to catch up with old friends and families. Kate argue that, “The Facebook, therefore, provides an alternative form to connect with the friends and relatives” (3). The old people will find it easier to send direct messages to friends and families. This makes them convey their concerns and feeling directly to the intended audience. A feeling of social satisfaction and a connection is, therefore, achieved because they obtain responses from the friends and relatives as soon as possible if not instantly. “Being comfortable using Facebook will help older people stay connected to their families and friends, and may help alleviate loneliness in later years,” (Doughty). The social events and proceedings in the surroundings can also be shared via Facebook images.

The Facebook social platform also enables the broadening of the social networks of the older people. Ruti and Moran state “It is a living testimony that everyone will experience a feeling of sensation when they get to know more people through Facebook” (47). The Facebook social media operates in such a manner that the already known friends are connected to the individuals known by their friends. This makes the network of friends to continue widening as they get to know more people. The older people get enthusiastic about this event, which proves to be beneficial to them by offering the comfortable feeling of being in a virtual society. This culture is easily maintained by simple communication over the Facebook social media. Facebook social media provides socialization groups. It is possible to create and manage social clusters in the Facebook media application. Everyone will agree that the old people have the tendency of categorizing themselves as a group of particular interest in the society. The ability of the Facebook to provide a platform for categorization of people with similar characteristics and interests enable the formation of such groups. Philippa et al state, “This could be based on age brackets, the area of location, and ideologies” (12). The senior people can share their ideas and experiences among themselves. Moreover, they can also share the lifetime events that they have undergone through. “There’s also a large body of literature showing that people who are more socially engaged, are less lonely, have more social support and are more socially integrated are also doing better cognitively in older age,” (Emling). In this manner, they feel understood by their peers and they forget the idea of being misinterpreted by young people who tend to view issues differently as compared to their older counterparts. With sharing Facebook facilitates learning. People who spend most of their time on the Facebook platform will agree that some interesting articles, topics, and blogs exist on this social media platform. The old people are therefore obliged to continue learning on issues that come with old age. For instance, the old people need to do more research on healthy living. This is because they are vulnerable to most of the diseases that can be controlled by healthy lifestyles. The old people may also be tempted to try new ideas. Facebook provides materials with such information thereby providing multiple opportunities for growth, learning, activity, and education. “Training older people to use social media improves cognitive capacity, increases a sense of self-competence and could have a beneficial overall impact on mental health and physical well-being”, (Morris)

It is safe to use Facebook because of its safety and security. Many people, including older, may afraid of sharing private information in social media, because some people may steal their identity. But with Facebook, they don’t need to worry about that since Facebook has a good safety and security system for protection. It sometimes asks to update password in order that nobody can steal an account or any private information. In that point we can say that Facebook improves the well-being which means people don’t need to worry about their protection and privacy. Lastly, the use of Facebook facilitates safe and secure technology integration in old people. “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,” (Birkett). Modern day technology trends should be integrated even into the old people. It has been reported that in some cases the old people are shy to use this technology. Integration of technology in the old people shall be part of obtaining a well-informed society.

For older people, Facebook is easy to use. Many elderly do not realize why it is so essential to create an account on Facebook for them. First of all, it is beneficial to have the possibility to find like-minded people: the elderly can join groups and discussions on topics of interest. This allows spending time with advantage and being distracted from routine. Thus, it will not feel so lonely, communicating with other people, learning new information and self-developing. Old people are able to find appropriate and enjoyable activity there, learn new technologies, and acquire new knowledge and skills. Facebook makes “older people also want to stay in touch with their younger family members and follow their lives online” (Griniute).  Social communication with the external world has a significant role in the socialization of the elderly. Most of them are unable to leave the home, to make the long trip and visit favorite places. This way, Facebook becomes a guide for them in the outside world, which allows making new friends and keeping in touch with them.

In conclusion, Facebook has become a social media platform which has become beneficial to not only the young generation but also the older people. After retirement, most of the older people are unable to travel to meet with their relatives and Facebook offers an efficient platform for connecting with the relatives. It increases their self-competency, cognitive development as well as healthy impacts on their bodies, both physical and mental. In their ages, the older people are able to enjoy activities across the platform as they learn new skills about technologies.

Works cited

.

Birkett, Barry. 5 Benefits of Social Media for Seniors – Let’s Help Them Get Online! http://seniorcarecorner.com/5-benefits-of-social-media-for-seniors, 2013.

Doughty, Eleanor. Facebook is the most popular social network for the over 50s. Retrieved from:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/goodlife/11751851/Facebook-is-the-most-popular-social-network-for-the-over-50s.html, 2015.

Emling, Shelley. Facebook Benefits Older Adults By Giving Them Cognitive Boost, Study Says. Retrieved from:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/19/facebook-benefits-older-adults-cognitive-boost_n_2716655.html, 2013.

Griniute, Ilona. Social media and older people: Promising future? http://www.telecentre-europe.org/social-media-and-older-people-promising-future/, 2014.

Kate, Finn. Social Media Use by Older Adults. 2010. Print.

Morris, Steven. Study finds social media use beneficial to overall health of elderly. http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/dec/12/study-finds-social-media-skype-facebook-use-beneficial-overall-health-elderly, 2014.

Nooriatti, Din & Shireen, Haron. Benefits of Using the Facebook from the Malaysian Perspective. Mara: Universiti Teknologi MARA Press. Print.

Ongeri, Steven: Older People and Social Networking. London: Housing Learning and Improvement Networking, July 2012. Print.

Philippa, C., Rahilly, K., Ingrid, R. & Amanda, T. The Benefits of social Networking Services. Sydney: University Of Western Press, April 2012. Print