Social Media and Elderly People: Research Trends

Population aging is now a global reality a global reality, and interaction with social media as well. The older adult population is increasing significantly and their mental and physical health will be a worldwide priority. Social networks have been seen as an important ally to support older people. It is therefore important to know how the elderly population interacts with social media and the potential benefits and dangers in this interaction. This paper reports the results of a systematic literature review in the field of social media and the elderly. The analysis of the research papers focused on their research approach, methods of data collection, research domains, objectives and results. Our findings indicate that currently there is no predominant research approach for this field of study, samples are generally very small, research efforts are focused on specific domains, and there is a lacking of rigor in the reporting process. This work is important because it identifies the current state of research in this field and guides new potential research.