To what extent do internet users in the 60 - 75 age bracket use online communities such as Facebook, Wikipedia or Seniorweb? And why do they use them – or not, as the case may be? These questions are answered by this study, which Bern University of Applied Sciences has published together with Agentur Zeix (the Swiss agency for usability and user education) as part of the EU research and development project «Third Age Online».

 

Older internet users find it difficult when they wish to connect to an online community: major usability obstacles and lack of awareness of the services on offer make finding the way in a time-consuming process. Once in, they often find that there is little explanation about the community principles, or that setting up their own page is simply too laborious.

 

Once these obstacles have been overcome, it was found that age is not the main factor in determining whether or not someone uses an online community. More important is their connection with everyday life. All active users have an entirely personal benefit in «their» community: a hobby, a way of keeping in touch with long-distance friends, a personal mission. The results of the study indicate that people who are less well integrated socially find it more difficult to participate in online communities than those with a good level of social integration.

 

The recommendations of the study’s authors are aimed not only at the community users. Family, friends, associations and commercial companies and media are also asked to encourage the social integration of persons in the «third age». A German management summary and the complete study in English are available free of charge on the website for the «Third Age Online» project.