Senior citizens on Facebook: How do they interact and why?

This study investigated why senior citizens use Facebook and how they participate in specific activities on Facebook in order to gratify their needs. An online survey of 352 senior citizens over 60 years old revealed four primary motivations for using Facebook: social bonding, social bridging, curiosity, and responding to family member requests. The analysis of the relationship between senior citizens' motivations and their participation in activities on Facebook indicates that social bonding is a major motivation for participating in most activities on Facebook. In addition, data reveal that using message-based interactivity features on Facebook (i.e., posting on other people's wall and Facebook chatting with others) leads to greater Facebook use. The findings of this study contribute to our understanding of senior citizens' Facebook use as an emerging communication tool.