Practicum-PatrickHechinger

So I am studying Internet Users and Audiences, specifically senior citizens, and so far it has been pretty humorous. I am currently participating in chats and message boards on senior.com and snabbo.com. My alter-ego is Norman McLean, a 71 year old living in Naples, Florida. Senior.com is a pretty basic site, it gives advice about travel, health, and hobbies and also allows the members to chat. Most of these discussion don't get very far because members do not know how to use the site and the whole thing ends up being very disorganized. Snabbo.com is marketed towards baby boomers and is more of like a facebook for the elderly. Pictures are shared and talked about and the chat rooms seem to have a better flow to them. The way these people use and write on the internet has completely changed the way I view it. Questions that have come to mind include: How does the elderly lifestyle play into their use of the internet? Do you think they are trying to reconnect with friends or find new ones? Finally, how will these sites change in the future when generations with previous knowledge of computers enter old age?