Social Networking for the Over 50s

During the week we received a request for a link from "About My Age", an Australian social networking site for the Over 50s.

Social networking focuses on building online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most social network services are web based and provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services. There are many such sites on the Web, the best known being Facebook and Flickr.

About My Age had this to say about themselves:

About My Age is a free national community based website for people over 50.
Our website is based on the social networking concept, utilizing issues and topics relating to the over 50s age group and is a forum for members to communicate and interact with each other. We currently have many U3A students amongst our thousands of members, however, we would like to extend our services to more U3A students.
We have many Testimonials from Government Departments listed on our website, including the following:
Government of South Australia
"...we have explored the About My Age website, its contents and capabilities. I applaud your initiative and innovation in developing this website. It is an excellent forum for people over 50 to discuss issues, make social connections and source information. Social isolation affects many people in our community, particularly those over 50. As a key topic on my agenda, I am supportive of initiatives that work towards maintaining connections to the community.
The website has the potential to reach many people, and is an excellent source of information.
Hon Jennifer Rankine MP, Minister for Ageing"

Yarra City U3A were kind enough to mention our website in their Newsletter. Our membership has grown into the thousands since then.

Would you please consider the possibility that your U3A could support our website and mention us in your next Newsletter or put our link on your website? In return, you can put your U3A in our Organisations page on our website for free. We can support each other as our intentions and aims are the same.
Thank you
Regards, Peter Zlatkovic, Director

I registered on this site last year when I first heard about it but have scarcely returned. That's a personal choice—I'm not the sort of person who likes to chat on line. (You won't find me at too many U3A get-togethers, either: I don't even spend much time chatting face-to-face.)

Would I recommend the site to you? Yes! If you're into social networking it's a good site that appears to run smoothly and allows people to interact. The membership is growing rapidly, as are all similar sites, so it's a place to make virtual friends and share not-so-virtual interests.

Are there any drawbacks? Of course, but common sense should help you to find your way through those.

Potentially the most dangerous aspect of social networking is giving away enough information about yourself to permit identity theft. You can avoid this by including inaccurate information about yourself: for instance, my postcode and date of birth are incorrect.

You also need to remember that your correspondents can be anybody they want to be on the Net. That svelte forty-year-old with the alluring photograph may be a pimply-faced boy with a sense-of-humour.

Why not pop across to their site and see for yourself. It's free, registration is simple, and you might enjoy the experience.

— David Evans

CLICK ON THE GRAPHIC TO VISIT THEIR SITE

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