Senior-Citizen Social Networking

A recent web 2.0 business idea that I had was a social networking site for older (elderly) men and women. Many older individuals are “home bodies” and have developed a fear of socializing. This social network would help older individuals find other elderly individuals with common interests (Ex . crafts, sports, cards, clubs, WWII, health issues, the past, how-to ’s on newer technology , support on dealing with the loss of a loved one, etc). Most older people like discussing topics that are familiar/common to them. Also, many older individuals have lost a spouse and seem reluctant to “put themselves out there” into the world of dating/friend making. Socializing is extremely important for elderly people’s health of mind. More and more elderly people are “getting online” now.

Seniors need a safe-haven that is free of scammers. There are many cases of elderly individuals being scammed by online daters, which is extremely sad. Seniors also have special needs that must be taken into account when desiging the site, such as increased font size for those with bad eyesight, and an intuitive easy to navigate user interface, just to name two.

There is only one social network that I know of that caters specifically to the retired demographic (over 50 crowd), but not specifically to the very elderly. Check out Mike Arrington’s TechCrunch article on Eons. Mike discusses what he thinks Eons is doing wrong, “the site is…trying to be a blog, a myspace-type home page, a to-do list and a portal for its users, among many other things. It’s too much to throw at people at once.” There is still much oppourtunity here.

Another site I have found for senior ’s “dating” is SeniorPeopleMeet, it seems very basic . I have not used their service , so I cannot comment on it.