The Benefits and Risks of Social Media for Elderly Parents

Few of us are strangers to social media. Whether we’re fully hooked in or just use it occasionally, we all have a sense of the digital world – and it’s a controversial place. 

It’s easy to focus on the risks of social media, like how social media can contribute to anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. Such effects aren’t surprising either, as social media encourages comparison between people, often leading to feelings of inadequacy. 

Yet, social media isn’t always bad news. There are benefits as well, including the chance to create new friendships and promote connections. 

While social media is often seen as the refuge of young people, particularly teens, social media is becoming increasingly popular among seniors as well. Social media for the elderly isn’t even an unusual idea anymore. Data from the Pew Research Center even shows that technology and social media use among those above 65 is rapidly increasing. 

Such changes make it crucial to talk about the benefits and risks of social media for elderly people, including your aging parents. Read on to learn more, along with some tips about how seniors can use social media safely. 

Benefits of Social Media for Elderly Parents

Allows Communication Across Distance

Social media is powerful for keeping in touch with friends and family. This was clear during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when technology was often the only way we could stay connected with one another. 

While much has changed since that point, technology-based communication remains essential. It’s particularly relevant for seniors who can’t go out often, such as those with considerable mobility challenges or weakened immune system. 

A Platform for Sharing Our Lives

Social media isn’t just about digital conversations. It’s also a place where people can share images and stories from their lives. 

This makes it easy for aging parents to keep up with the latest news and photographs from family members. Doing so can help them feel part of everything, even if they’re rarely able to visit. 

Families can even set up group chats that allow everyone to share photos and news. Such chats are an amazing way to connect families across a large distance.

Makes It Easier to Share Passions

Many platforms also help seniors to find people with similar interests to them. For example, there are groups on Facebook for every topic you can imagine, like book clubs or knitting clubs. There are also plenty of women-only groups, men-only groups, and those designed specifically for seniors. 

Some groups are highly engaged, with multiple posts every day, so there’s always something to look at and discuss. 

Sharing passions like this is powerful for mental health. For example, if the senior was part of an art group on Facebook, they might be more driven to create their own art and show it off to others. Doing so can easily boost mental health and help your aging parent feel more connected. 

They Can Find Support

Some online groups have a supportive focus instead, such as those designed to help people process grief (there are plenty of caregiver support groups too). 

Now, this type of support isn’t as powerful as connecting with people in person, but it’s much better than nothing. Such support also makes the senior less emotionally dependent on their adult children, which is fantastic. 

Don’t worry, your aging parent finding other sources of support doesn’t mean you’ve failed, not at all. It’s healthy for people to have a diverse support network, rather than relying on one or two people.

They Can Reconnect with Friends

People often drift apart over time. Some move to different cities or even different countries, while others simply get engrossed in their lives. 

Social media makes it easier than ever to reconnect with old friends and even ex-partners. For example, your aging parents might be able to connect with people they previously went to high school with or worked with at one point during their career. 

Re-establishing such connections can be amazing, especially for seniors who are feeling isolated. 

Risks of Social Media for Elderly Parents

Vulnerability to Scams

Seniors are vulnerable to scams, especially if they are feeling lonely and are desperate for company. 

Unfortunately, social media is a common place for scams. This includes scammers setting up fake profiles, offering fake giveaways, pretending to be family members, or even carrying out elaborate romances in the hope of getting money. 

Such scams are often easy to spot if you’re tech savvy (or even if you aren’t, as many are extremely obvious). 

But, crucially, some scams are much less obvious and many seniors are still learning to use technology. Care is needed to ensure they stay safe while using social media. 

This is particularly true if seniors are meeting new people online. Some of those people may be scammers who work hard to gain the senior’s trust before they make their move. 

Negative Mental Health Impacts

Despite the potential for connection, social media can easily make seniors feel more lonely and isolated, contributing to mental health issues. 

That’s not so surprising, as social media isn’t the same as meeting friends or family in person. 

Then there’s the addictive quality of social media. It’s easy to get sucked into social media feeds or comment sections, leaving less time for real life.   

Privacy Issues

Staying safe online involves being cautious about the information you share, especially personal details, addresses, and credit card information. Doing so may be confusing for seniors who are still coming to grips with technology. 

Seriously, navigating security settings and interfaces is confusing enough for those who understand technology. Imagine what it’s like for beginners. 

Misinformation and Conspiracies

Finally, social media is a huge source of misinformation, including exaggerations, unsupported claims, personal bias, and outright lies. This information is often presented as fact and can seem convincing. 

There are other issues at play too, including emotional manipulation, confirmation bias, and the way we seek people who confirm our perspectives. 

Some people get sucked down a rabbit hole of sorts, where they start to believe increasingly unrealistic and concerning things. 

How to Keep Seniors Safe on Social Media

Teach Them the Technology

First, it’s important to teach your aging parents about social media. This includes how to use it well and the issues they should watch out for. 

If they’re very new to technology, begin with a single device and single social media platform, like Facebook on their tablet. This makes everything straightforward. 

You might even need to write instructions, telling them the basic tips and tricks, like how to log on, how to add friends, how to leave comments, and the like. 

Provide Specifics about Scams

To stay safe on social media, your aging parents will need to understand the scams currently circulating and red flags to watch out for.

Some red flags include: 

• Requests for money, particularly in the form of gift cards or wire transfers. 
• People who seem very friendly or romantic far too quickly. 
• Any offer that seems too good to be true.   
• Bold claims without evidence to back them up. 
• Friend requests on Facebook where there are few mutual friends in common or whether the senior has already friended the person once. 

For scams, phishing scams, romance scams, and deepfakes are particularly important. 

Highlight the Importance of Privacy

You’ll also need to teach seniors about privacy online. This includes the idea of closely guarding personal information and passwords. 

Some seniors may be resistant to this idea, especially if they tend to trust people. You may need to talk to them about this multiple times.

You’ll also need to keep an eye on the privacy settings of their account. For example, Facebook allows profiles to be hidden from outside viewers and for posts to be shared to friends only 

Encourage Them to Ask You

Finally, you can help by being a safe space for your aging parents. 

This means allowing them to ask you any time they’re confused or unsure. Hopefully, they’ll ask you about anything suspicious and you can help them avoid scams entirely. 

It’s important to be non-judgemental here. If the senior feels like you’ll make fun of them, they’re less likely to come to you when there’s a potential issue.