How The Internet Can Add Years To Your Life

By Ken Arp | 1 comment

• social media

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.