How The Internet Can Add Years To Your Life – Part 2

By Ken Arp

This is the conclusion of an article that I wrote for Silver and Gold magazine, a Canadian magazine targeting the 50+ demographic in Canada. You can read the first part of the article here.

There are thousands of websites online that cater to different interests.  Whatever your hobby or interest there is sure to be a website where people that share your interest get together, chat and would welcome you as part of their community.  The biggest and most famous Social Media forums like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are not based on any specific hobby, interest or demographic, they are open for all people to participate.

Facebook is the world’s largest social networking website with more than 350,000,000 active users worldwide.  It was founded in 2004 by a Harvard student and at that time was only open to Harvard students to join.  It was only in September 2006 that Facebook became public and anyone could join.  To put Facebook’s growth into perspective, it took only 2 years for Facebook to have an audience of 50,000,000 people, something that took radio 38 years and television 13 years.

Today there are 1,680,580 Facebook members in Canada that are 50 years old or older.  In fact, there are more than 80,000 Facebook members over 50 years old that live within 10 miles of Burlington, Ontario (which of course doesn’t include Toronto).  For most people being on Facebook keeps them in touch with family and friends.  On Facebook people post comments about what they are doing and feeling.  They post pictures to share with their friends.  They write things privately to their friends or publicly for anyone to see.  It’s a great way to stay up to date on people’s lives and feel connected.

Already on Facebook?  There is more to do than just connect with family and friends.  There are countless different “Groups” on Facebook that you can join and become a part of.  You can join Groups for people that enjoy virtually any specific interest or hobby and have a place to discuss common interests with others that share your passion.  A quick search for “Photography” Groups will provide you with thousands of Groups you can join and they are listed in order of which group has the most members.  “I love photography” currently has more than 230,000 members and it has more than 18,000 photos posted.  There are also Groups based on shared feelings, interests and causes (“save the whales 14,000 members) as well as local groups based on communities, school alumni or other local group affiliation.

Facebook “Pages” are a little different than “Groups”, they tend to be more for businesses.  You can become a Fan of a particular Page and in doing so you will then receive their messages whenever they send them out.  If you became a Fan of the Hamilton Tiger Cats (currently more than 6,600 fans) you will get their updates on player signings and stories.  If you became a fan of a shopping mall you might be notified of special deals and discounts.

Social Media is quickly evolving into a way for people to band together in emergencies.  When the earthquake hit Haiti in January there were 2 Facebook groups set up (on in English, the other in their native Creole) that had more than 200,000 people signed up posting pictures of loved ones that they can’t get in touch with in hopes that someone else will see them and let them know they are OK.

For most people what draws them to Facebook is that it gives them a sense of belonging to a community, something that we all need.

Published by Ken Arp in social media

How The Internet Can Add Years To Your Life

By Ken Arp | 1 comment

The following is the first of 2 parts of an article that I wrote for a Canadian magazine targeting retirees called Silver and Gold.

Researchers believe computers can help push back two chronic conditions of old age – depression and isolation.  There are many retirees that have discovered that the internet has so much to offer but some of you are still unsure, skeptical or afraid that it’s too much to learn.  The fact is, with a little guidance you can quickly begin to enjoy some of the benefits that can truly add years to your life.

Computers have changed the world forever and because of them things are changing faster and faster every year.  So how did we get to where we are today?  In 1984 there were 1,000 internet devices in the world, today there are more than 1,000,000,000.  From the early internet years the focus has been on sharing knowledge.  Companies would create websites to tell people about what they do, others would use the internet to share their knowledge with the world.  Recent years have seen vast improvements in “search engines” – websites like www.google.com that help you find what you are looking for among the billions of pages on the internet.  Today, if you need to find the answer to something all you need to do is “google it”.

The last few years have seen a whole new direction emerge on the internet called “Social Media”.  There are many definitions of Social Media (just google it and you’ll see) but at the core of it is the ability for everyone to communicate, to share thoughts and ideas, to build relationships through many different free forums.  While the ability to see things and learn things can have great benefits, the ability to interact with others can truly help to resolve feelings of depression and isolation in my opinion.

Stay tuned for part 2 of this article which focuses on Facebook and how to get connected and involved with it.

Published by Ken Arp in social media