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

By Ken Arp

• social media

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.