My parents worked hard to figure out (outwit?) the eccentricities of the Blogger site, and they managed to get their new blog up and running. They only needed a bit of help from me. I have made a mental note to think about writing some technology tutorials and attaching them to a technology tutorial posting here on As Our Parents Age.
Dad wrote his first posting and published it. Now he really needs to write and post a second one. It is hard for my parents to understand that just because you have a blog does not mean you have a lot of readers, at least not in the beginning. They want readers, but then so do all bloggers. For serious writers, and my dad is one of them, starting a blog is a labor of love — at least at the start.
So I suggested that they pick out ten to twelve close friends from their Christmas card list, choosing from the people who always comment about how much they enjoy the literary Christmas letter that my parents send.(My parents have lived in quite a few different locations and have continued relationships from each place. Thus they have a large list.) If they e-mail a select group, giving them the blog address and inviting them to follow along, they may even have some additional interactions and conversations with well-loved friends.
This is a great project for my parents!
Here are some interesting links that discuss seniors, the internet, and technology.
- Nielsen media research on how seniors use technology, NielsenWire Blog — Check out how many seniors are using the Internet, what they are doing, and how their numbers are growing.
- Internet Searching May Exercise the Aging Brain from Health.com
- Seniors Who Use Internet Could Reap Health Benefits, Studies Show in iHealthBeat from CA HealthCare Foundation
The last two links are about research conducted at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA. I prefer to find a link to the published research that I mention in this blog, but so far I have not located it. I’ll keep searching.
As Our Parents Age So Do We 