1. Review of Older Adults and Their Behaviors in Online Communities
Yalin Sun
INF 385T Older Adults’ Information Needs and Behaviors
05/01/2014

2. Introduction The fast increasing number of older adults (65+)
41.4 million in 2011 & 79.7 million in 2040
In every eight Americans, one is older adult
The increasing popularity of online communities among seniors
53% American older adults (65+) are using Internet
150% growth of SNS use from 2009 to 2011
Using on a regular basis
Benefits of adopting online communities for older adults
Reducing social isolation
Offering informational support/emotional support
Places for entertainment

3. Research Question & Methods
What recent studies have found over the topic of older adults and their behaviors in online communities ?
Literature Review
2008 – April, 2014
Academic databases search & backward chaining
397 unique records retrieved
16 literatures selected after two rounds of screening

4. Statistics Publication Year Types of Online Communities
No. of articles
Forums 6
SNS 5
Blogs 2
Chat room/IM 1
Non-specified 3
Publication Year
No. of articles
Field Analysis 9
Survey 5
Interviews 3
Types of Online Communities
Research Methods

5. Findings Network structure and interaction
small network size, but diverse in friends’ age
share more experience-based information
imitating others’ behaviors (privacy setting & post’s content)
User types and favored topics
different user types, associated with different informational/emotional needs (socializer, information swappers, aging-oriented)
fun culture vs. serious activities

6. Findings Ways of self-expression and use of multimedia
less presence online & self-describing in a formal
less use of multimedia and advance features
but actively using text-based techniques (fonts/colors, emoticons, “btw” “lol”)
Types of online communities and using preferences
forums – exchange knowledge and informational support, entertainment
blogs – venting negative feelings
SNS/chat room – socializing, emotional support
IM – private and sensitive conversations

7. Conclusion & Future Both similarities and differences
Small network site & lack of multimedia use and self-presence
Different interaction patterns and behaviors across platforms and in the same platform
None review of this topic has been done before
Benefit future research
Importance to other related topics (online community design, online communities and older adults’ wellbeing)
Future research -- Incorporate more related topics
Motivations and barriers among non-participants
Benefits of participating
Quality of information
Online community design practices

8. Questions ?