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Social Media Use of Older Adults: A Mini-Review
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Maintaining social relationships has been defined as a core element of aging well. With a considerable amount of older adults living alone, social media provides the possibility to engage in meaningful social contact, e.g. by joining online social networks and online discussion forums. OBJECTIVE: The review encompasses current knowledge of prerequisites in social media use of older adults such as functional capacity, information and communications technology-related knowledge, and favorable attitudes towards social media. Then, the potential of social media use for clinical practice and possible negative consequences are outlined. METHOD: Literature on social media use from a gerontological perspective was reviewed in July and August 2012. RESULTS: Online communities are suitable for providing and receiving social support when confronted with a difficult life situation, regardless of geographical location or time. From a practitioner's perspective, social media can be used to advance health-related knowledge such as information on prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of specific conditions and disorders. Further positive consequences have been shown to be overcoming loneliness, relieving stress, and raising feelings of control and self-efficacy. Possible negative consequences could be misuse of personal data as well as the distribution and uncritical adoption of potentially harmful information via online communities. DISCUSSION: The potential of social media in clinical practice is reflected in a wide range of intervention possibilities for older adults. However, with the rise of social media, new threats emerge for older adults as well.
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“studies show that older adults have different goals and motivations for using social media compared with younger adults (Leist, 2013).”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Leist, A. K.
- Affiliations
- University of Luxembourg (LU)
- Corresponding author
- Leist, Anja K.
- ORCID
- Leist, Anja K.
- Venue
- Gerontology
- Publisher
- S. Karger AG
- Published
- 2013
- Volume
- 59
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 378-384
- ISSN
- 0304-324X (ISSN-L)
- 1423-0003
- OpenAlex
- W1981323906
- Cited by
- 378
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 23 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 51 · 2022: 46 · 2021: 47 · 2020: 43 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 4.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Gerontology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Open Repository and Bibliography (University of Luxembourg) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- Funders
- Fonds National de la Recherche Luxembourg
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Geriatrics and Gerontology › Technology Use by Older Adults
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Social Sciences › Life-span and Life-course Studies › Aging, Elder Care, and Social Issues
- Keywords
- social media use, older adults, social networking sites, online communities, social support, loneliness, stress, self-efficacy, attitudes toward social media, misuse of personal data, health information, successful aging, clinical practice
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Aging, Attitude to Computers, Humans, Loneliness, Motivation, Social Behavior, Social Support, Telemedicine, Social Media
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