I believe older adults have much to gain by participating in Facebook or other social networks. Hearing this from me might be hard to believe, especially since I have been lambasting Facebook hate groups for the past few days. But the reality is, with 34 million users on Facebook alone, there are bound to be all angles of opinions. I hope nobody is put off by the discovery of a few renegade groups and gives up on the whole network. We know that ageism exists, but would you give up on society just because of it? Thus, I would like to balance the discussion with this article and bring to your attention some of the benefits of using online social networks.

1. Establish and stretch your social network
I may be stating the obvious, but the key benefit to using social network is to build your social network. You can easily connect with friends, family, previous coworkers (or not), classmates, and people you've nearly forgotten. I can't imagine any other tool in history that makes connecting people any easier. Sure, you probably wouldn't be using Facebook to organize parties or go clubbing, but it serves just as well for other outings and events too.

2. From Hatebook to Facebook
As we have discussed in previous posts, there are all kinds of elder hate groups on Facebook. However, consider for a second that if something so extreme as that could happen, imagine what goodies you can find on Facebook? There are just hundreds of thousands of groups formed by people on any topic from 'A' to 'Z'. (those are existing groups too) You can easily find people who share your esoteric interests and hobbies. Moreover, people would also welcome discussions, since everyone is there to socialize.

3. Health benefits (yes, there's always a health benefit)
The health benefits of maintaining a good social network for older adults have been written about countless times. However, I'd like to point out a little known anecdote. Jeanne Calment, the French lady with the longest lifespan, attributed her extraordinary long life to the attention and frequent visitors she was getting because of her age. After her 122th birthday, though, it was finally decided that because of her health, she was to have her privacy and further visits were declined. Indeed, it was said by her biographer that this "allowed her to die" because the attention had kept her going. Jeanne Calment died five months later.

4. Bridge the generation gap
Another reason to use Facebook is simply because there is a need for it. Older methods of communication between generations are failing. Your grandkids wouldn't expect you to write letters to them. As I have suggested before, one of the main reasons why elder hate groups exist is because of a generation gap and lack of understanding. Older adults should not be isolated and keep to themselves. Besides, Facebook is not just for teenagers anymore. There are all kinds of people from different age group already on it. Also, I think the technology has matured enough to be more user friendly. If you can find your way to this webpage out in the middle of nowhere on the internet, I think you will be fine on Facebook too.

Reap the benefits

I implore you to consider the benefits of Facebook and other online social networks. Spend just a few minutes a week and millions of individuals from all ages will be there for you to connect with. I believe you will find that most of them have nice things to say to older folks.