Seniors are adopting social networking faster than any other age group, and retirement communities can benefit

William Nutt|Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Initially serving Harvard students and later expanding to other American universities and colleges—one school at a time—it’s no secret that Facebook now attracts users of all ages and nationalities. What many don’t know, however, is that older adults are joining Facebook and other social networks at an exponentially increasing rate far exceeding that of any other age group.

A recent PRC study reveals that in the year between April 2009 and May 2010, “social networking use among Internet users 50 and older nearly doubled—from 22% to 42%,” with 88% growth in users ages 50-64 and 100% in those older than 65. These numbers are especially astonishing when compared to the 13% growth among young adult users, the demographic with the highest percentage of social networkers (86%).

At the time of the study’s release toward the end of last year, “half (47%) of Internet users ages 50-64 and one-in-four (26%) users age 65 and older [were using] social networking sites."

The attractions of social networking to older users are twofold: Social networks allow them to reconnect with people from their past and to more frequently and interactively connect with their children and grandchildren, by bridging generational gaps. With regularly posted photos, videos and text updates, younger generations are documenting their lives on social networks, and the ability of older parents and grandparents—particularly those who are geographically distant—to follow this activity presents an extremely powerful and unprecedented opportunity to connect and interact with their loved ones.

These findings have tremendous implications for retirement communities and other retirement industry stakeholders. Social networks can be used to connect with prospective residents by increasing a community’s Internet presence and extending brand awareness. Children and grandchildren are attracted to retirement communities that maintain Facebook pages containing videographic, photographic, and textual updates about social events and other goings-on. And although older retirees can be easily overwhelmed by new technological concepts, they tend to embrace well-structured educational programs about social networking.

Best of all, social networking is free! Rather than an obstacle, view the popularization of social networks as a tremendous opportunity—because if effectively utilized, that’s exactly what they are.

A retirement community actively engaged in social networking has a versatile advantage over its antisocial counterparts and is well-poised for the future of marketing and the evolving technological needs of its residents.

While a community yet to explore social networking hasn’t necessarily fallen behind its competitors, one that doesn’t actively use email to communicate with existing and prospective residents and their children has cause for concern. According to said study, “92% of those ages 50-64 and 89% of those ages 65 and older send or read email and more than half of each group exchanges email messages on a typical day.” The importance of establishing a comprehensive system of email communication exceeds that of any other marketing or communications effort. The validity of this claim increases with each new day, so businesses falling behind should act fast before getting left in the dust.

Specific strategies for an effective social networking program will be covered in a future post, but in the meantime, feel free to contact me for advice about how to initiate a campaign or with inquiries regarding social networking, emailing or general Internet use.

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