Social connectedness in older adults: The potential of social internet use to maintain a strong and stable personal network

Objective: Maintaining a strong social network in later life can be challenging due to limited resources, life events, and changes in health. Social internet use provides an accessible way for communication that is less susceptible to age-related challenges. Although social internet use is increasingly used by older adults, we do not know how social internet use shapes older adults’ offline networks. The purpose of this study is to examine whether social internet use can help maintain strong social relationships. Methods: We used data from three waves (2012-2013, 2015-2016, and 2018-2019) of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. Our sample included 2266 older adults aged 55-99 (mean = 68.2 years, 54% female). We included frequency of social internet use and computed personal network size, contact frequency, and the number of continued, gained, and lost ties over time. Hybrid models were applied to disentangle between within- and between-person associations. Results: More frequent social internet users had significantly larger personal networks and, relative to the previous wave, more continued and gained network ties, compared to less frequent social internet users. A within-person increase in social internet use over time was associated with more continued and gained ties. Discussion: Social internet use may help maintain a strong and stable network, which is important for social connectedness in later life. It allows for additional interaction opportunities, as well as network maintenance and growth. Social internet use thus proves to a valuable addition to the social interaction resources of older adults.