Learning affordances of a facebook community of older adults: A netnographic investigation during COVID-19

College

College of Computer Studies

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Source Title

30th International Conference on Computers in Education (ICCE)

Publication Date

2022

Abstract

Current research in social media is heavily anchored on young individuals due to its wide acceptance in this social cluster. However, the trajectory of literature points to increased use of social media among older adults and a heightened interest in its community feature, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Facebook communities are online avenues that can portray the everyday lives of older adults in the absence of social participation during a pandemic. To compensate for this absence, older adults have joined, mingled, and interacted with various online communities to engage in learning opportunities. Using netnography, we analyzed 378 Facebook posts in a private community of older adults during the early months of the pandemic. We found that the learning affordances of a Facebook community include informal learning, knowledge dissemination, and information validation. The result of this study is helpful to various aged care stakeholders, including geriatric care, technology providers, and the academe.

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Disciplines

Social Media

Keywords

Older people; Digital ethnology; Online social networks; COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023—Social aspects; Social media

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