Behavior of Social Media Usage Among the Elderly: A Case Study of the Elderly in Bang Khae District, Bangkok

Abstract

This quantitative research aimed to achieve the following objectives 1) To investigate the social media usage behaviors of the elderly in Bang Khae District, Bangkok, and 2) To explore their knowledge, attitudes, skills in using social media services, and the impact of social media usage. The study utilized convenience sampling to select a sample of 400 elderly individuals from Bang Khae District, Bangkok, and descriptive statistics were employed for data analysis.
The research findings revealed the following 1) The majority of the elderly participants had been using social media for more than 3 years, spending an average of 4-6 hours per day. They accessed social media platforms more than 10 times daily, primarily for entertainment and to alleviate loneliness. Facebook emerged as the most popular platform. Most of them accessed social media through mobile devices and from the comfort of their homes. 2) In terms of knowledge, the elderly knows that various information that appeared in social media were both reliable and unreliable at the highest level (4.41). In terms of attitude, the elderly had the opinion that social media was beneficial to daily life at the highest level (4.62). Service skills, the elderly was able to type conversations through social media themselves at the highest level (4.67). Regarding the impact of using social media, the findings indicated the following: Economically, the elderly allocated the highest proportion of their expenditure to telephone and internet services (35.11%). Socially and emotionally, communicating with friends of the same age experienced the most significant increase (24.24%). In terms of mental well-being, 18.20% of the participants reported being most stressed by crime-related information. Regarding health, 17.09% found useful information about age-appropriate exercises. These findings provide valuable insights into the needs and preferences of the elderly population, enabling the development of targeted interventions and support systems to enhance the digital experience of older individuals.