A Context-Aware Social Networking Platform Built Around the Needs of Elderly Users: The Go-myLife Experience

Abstract

In our increasingly dislocated and mobile society, online social network sites are proving valuable in bridging distances and facilitating interaction and communication. People are spending a significant amount of time at the top social networking websites in order to manage existing relationships with friends, reconnect with old friends, share media and find new contacts that have similar interests. Fulfilling these needs are just as important for elderly people as it is for everyone else, but can become more difficult. In spite of the need for social contact, elderly people, even those who use the internet, tend to miss out on the benefits of online social networking platforms. Many are no longer at work so they do not have a daily set of activities with the same group of people. This, combined with increasing frailty, can lead to a habit of staying at home, which adds to the feeling of loneliness and isolation. In the same time, elderly people are keen to maintain contact with the different generations of their family and many of them have already invested significant time in building contact lists and relationships within the major social networks. The challenge, therefore, is not setting up a new social network dedicated to older people but rather a platform from where they can post messages, receive updates and take part in discussions across a variety of platforms, thus bringing existing communities together. In this Chapter, the authors present such a context-aware social networking platform, the ``Going online: my social life{''} platform, which is adapted to the needs of elderly users.