Department of Communication Studies and The Center for Multidisciplinary Research in Aging, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, PO Box 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2013 Sep;68(5):773-82. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbt059. Epub 2013 Jul 3.
Participation in online communities that are dedicated to older adults is a significant trend in elders' use of the Internet. The present study aimed to explore the audience of these communities and to discover possible subsegments within that audience and the differences among them.
The study was based on an online survey of 218 members of 16 English language-based seniors' online communities.
Analysis demonstrated that the audience of the communities is not homogeneous, as 3 segments of community members were identified: information swappers, aging-oriented, and socializers. These groups differed in their interests, background characteristics, and participation patterns. In addition, results indicated significant differences between the groups in perceived benefits. The socializers were those who reported the highest level of gratification. The aging-oriented reported more "companionship" than the information swappers, and the latter reported more "joyfulness" than the aging-oriented.
The results suggested that members of seniors' online communities actively select community contents that best meet their psychosocial needs and use the communities interchangeably with other media and activities. Such purposeful use of the communities becomes an integral part of the strategies they utilize in order to cope with later life circumstances.
参与专门面向老年人的在线社区是老年人上网的一个重要趋势。本研究旨在探讨这些社区的受众，并发现该受众中的可能细分群体及其之间的差异。
该研究基于对 16 个英语老年人在线社区的 218 名成员的在线调查。
分析表明，社区的受众并非同质的，因为确定了社区成员的 3 个细分群体：信息交流者、老龄化导向者和社交者。这些群体在兴趣、背景特征和参与模式上存在差异。此外，结果表明，群体之间在感知收益方面存在显著差异。社交者报告的满意度最高。老龄化导向者比信息交流者报告了更多的“陪伴”，而信息交流者比老龄化导向者报告了更多的“愉悦”。
研究结果表明，老年人在线社区的成员积极选择最能满足其心理社会需求的社区内容，并与其他媒体和活动交替使用社区。这种有目的的使用社区成为他们为应对晚年生活环境而采用的策略的一个组成部分。
