Senior adults and tech habits

Older Americans, aka “Boomers” are known for being reluctant to embrace emerging technology, but data suggests just the opposite is true.

I use an app called SnugSafe. It's a checkin service for people aging alone. Recently, Snug surveyed the members in their community and discovered how tech habits have evolved over the last few years, espeically since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Here are the top findings, other surprises, and the overall results:

• 58% of respondents have ordered groceries online, and 75% of them did it for first time because of quarantines and other restrictions

• 54.3% of respondents have attended a religious service online (virtually)

• Zoom is the most popular video conferencing solution (36%), followed by Facetime (32%), and Facebook messenger (20%), with Skype and Whatsapp accounting for most of the remainder. T

• 55% of respondents using an exercise app are doing so because of the quarantine.

What's alarming to me is the amount of isolation that seniors are still dealing with during this time when the pandemic is all but officially over. Isolation causes loneliness which can exacerbate depression.

Before the pandemic, we would find studies about the negative effects of people staying at home all day and now, we're encouraged to do so.

So what can we do? Today, the best way to stay connected is to follow the advice of the old AT& T ad that urged us to 'Reach Out and Touch Someone!' The ad was

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Carol Marak Aging Matters MARAK

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meant to encourage people to make long-distance phone calls, which cost real money, like by-the-minute, back then.

While our real-life circles tend to shrink over the years as we age due to selfisolation, our cyber circles are wide open thanks to FaceTime, Facebook, and other social media platforms. If you have been reluctant to embrace social media thus far, I encourage you to give these apps a try. You might be surprised. In today's digital world, people can organize happy hours and dinner parties over text messages, Zoom and Skype, which is a fun way to stay connected.

Some older adults may not be able to participate in this cyber-connectivity, though — because of technical unfamiliarity, or hearing or vision problems. For them,. the old school ways can still be effective. Writing letters or sending greeting cards with a short note. It's not quite the same as keeping physical connections to those we care about but it does help keep the mind engaged and can help reduce feelings of isolation. But back to tech talk. Other findings from the Snug survey included:

• 60% of customers with an iPhone owned 4 or more “smart” devices (tablet, Amazon Echo, Google Home device, etc.)

• Those using a smart speaker, 90.2% had an Alexa-enabled device.

• Of respondents with a video doorbell, 88% had a Ring doorbell.

• Facebook is more popular (86%) than the next two (Instagram and Pinterest), combined among older adults, followed by Twitter

• Reddit (19%) and TikTok (17%) are more popular than Snapchat (15%), though findings may not be statistically significant

• 78.5% of respondents have played a video game (or phone game) in the past week.

More than 400 Snug customers responded to the survey. All responses were anonymous.

Carol Marak, aging advocate, and editor at Seniorcare. com. She's earned a Certificate in the Fundamentals of Gerontology from UC Davis, School of Gerontology. Aging Matters is a weekly column tackling everyday challenges that our growing elderly population and their loved ones face. It is also published in a variety of syndication partners including newspapers all over the country.