slantback:

When asked “How has the Internet changed your life in any way?” — the feedback was surprisingly poignant. One participant responded saying, “We feel like we’ve joined the human race,” while another said the computer class was the best thing she’d done since her husband died. One participant’s answer was particularly staggering: “We’re not as close to the grave as we thought.”

“No matter how many times I hear that, it still sends chills down my spine,” Cotten says. “I think for some people — in assisted living in particular — it’s almost like the world is really just passing them by and they’re just kind of waiting there to die. Having them be able to feel like they’re learning this new stuff that can connect them with the larger world, it feels like it’s pushing off death — it’s pushing them ‘further from the grave.’”

It became increasingly apparent that more than finding information, the engagement with their social networks and sense of renewed relevance was the most significant gain for older users. “It’s this kind of bigger sense of mattering, in the social world, if you will,” Cotten explains. “You’re not just something that’s been pushed off to the wayside anymore. You still have consequence.” (via Facebook for Centenarians: Senior Citizens Learn Social Media - Aylin Zafar - Technology - The Atlantic)