One of the questions asked at the Q&A last week was about how older people could be encouraged to make use of social media for advice and support.
Well, it looks like we needn’t have worried about older people missing out on all the social media excitement: this new report from Pew suggests that 50% of internet users in the 50-64 age bracket use social media sites (in the US, at least).
If your organisation is working with and for older people, then you should read this very interesting analysis of these figures in Frogloop. Not only does it break down the numbers for you, but also gives some guidelines for good ways to engage with older people online – including:
- recognise needs for contact and feelings of community
- provide timely, friendly and respectful responses
- think about providing tailored help and support for older users of your website and online tools
How is your organisation engaging with its older supporters, staff, volunteers or service users?
I get frustrated by myths about older people not using social media. OK, so for many reasons lots of people aren’t active online, but the average age of people coming to our Social Media Surgeries in Dudley suggest that there are lot of older (often men) keen to use social media and willing to help others to do so.