Motivations behind social media use by older adults

Abstract

The present research aims to define and categorize the motivations shaping the social media involvement of the older adults, and to understand the impact of social media use on this specific demographic segment. The thesis aims not only to offer fresh insights regarding older adults’ approach towards using social technologies, but also explore the impact of social technology use within a conceptual framework. In this thesis, having identified five motivations Information Seeking, Entertainment, Social Interaction, Social Influence, and Social Surveillance, I investigate a new construct called Reduced Perceived Obsolescence, and analyze the relationship between social media involvement and perceived obsolescence levels of older adults with data collected with the designed survey instrument. The conceptual model serves as a basis to further explore motivational, emotional, and behavioral correlates of social media use of the older adults.