Is your Grandpa on Facebook?

I came across this article featuring a columnist sharing his experience with his over 80 year old grandfather using Facebook. It states that many senior citizens have been using social networking sites- "Facebook estimates that it has a few million users over the age of 65. MySpace claims to have 6.7 million users age 65 and over on its site. In fact, according to MySpace spokeswoman Jessica Bass, older users are among the site's fastest growing demographic." It is also very interesting because the author shares about his grandfather posting his own 25 random things, and how he learned a lot about him that he didn't know before the post.

This led me to think about the oldest friend I have on a social networking site- my Grandma on Friendster. I joined Friendster last year after learning that it was as popular to my cousins in the Philippines as Facebook is to Americans. So, in attempts to keep in touch, I created a Friendster. While I'm not a big fan of it, it has helped me stay in touch with my relatives more- it wasn't just my cousins- it was my uncles, nieces, nephews, and many many more. So, to make my Grandma Shirley's presence known to our family in the virtual world, my cousins made her a Friendster- they post her latest pictures up, she receives comments from friends and relatives, and while she does not know how to use it, she looks at it regularly and likes that she feels connected to everyone. It's pretty cool.

So. How do your grandparents use social networking sites?