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Abstract
By having a healthy and happy social life, social needs are fulfilled. When social needs are not fulfilled, loneliness and social isolation can occur, which have negative consequences for one’s physical and mental health. Social technology, technology that enables social interaction, can be a resource to fulfil the social needs of older people. In this study, we aimed to learn what role social technology plays in the social life of older people. We held 15 interviews with people aged over 70 who regularly use some form of social technology. Our results indicate that social technology plays different roles in the lives of older people. It strengthens the existing social relationships and social structures. It also brings depth and fun to the social contacts of older people and in this way, enriches their social lives. Social technology also gives a sense of safety and peace of mind to the older people themselves but also to their network members. However, there are barriers in the use of social technology. The older people struggled with using social technology and feel that social technology sometimes stands in the way of real human contact. In supporting and facilitating people’s relationship with others, a community and society, technology helps fulfil older people’s need for connectedness, meaningfulness and independence. However, the relationship with independence is ambiguous. Their life experience gives older people a thoughtful way of looking at social technology and the role it plays in their lives.
Highlights
Older people see their social life and their social relationships as important prerequisites for successful ageing [1,2,3]
The more the participant was emotionally attached to their technology, the less socially involved they were in their surroundings. This suggests that older people can be too attached and dependent on their devices, resulting in a negative effect on their wellbeing. These findings suggest that using social technology to improve the social life of older people seems promising, the relationship between technology and the quality of social life can be complex and multi-faceted
The role of social technology in the lives of older people is that it strengthens existing social relationships, it enriches social contacts and it reassures both the older people and their network members
Summary
Older people see their social life and their social relationships as important prerequisites for successful ageing [1,2,3]. Older people see family relationships, social contacts and activities as valued components of a good quality of life as much as general health and functional status. By having an active social life, older people may fulfil their social needs, which contributes to their wellbeing. We mean the social contacts people have and the interactions and activities with these social contacts. Both intimate social contacts and more peripheral social contacts contribute to the social wellbeing of older people [3]. If social needs are not fulfilled, this can lead to loneliness and social isolation, which may, in turn, negatively affect a person’s physical and mental health [4,5,6,7,8,9,10]
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