Elders Find Comfort and a "Bigger" World Using Facebook and Twitter

The desolate loneliness too often accompanying the toil of growing old may soon vanish.

Or, in time, the burden may at least lessen. Thanks, that is, to social media and its power to connect people.

Some older men and women, well into their 90s and on into their 100’s, are now being taught how to use Facebook, Twitter and blogging platforms, and the tech know-how is transforming their existence, reports Aylin Zafar in a superbly reported and researched piece recently published in The Atlantic in conjunction with a MetLife Foundation Journalists on Aging Fellows Program.

Classes on social media, being taught at some senior centers and assisted living facilities, are helping isolated older adults better connect with loved ones, young and old, as well as make new cyber friends.

Many