When getting old, one is better to spend lesser time in the internet. A recent study revealed that older people who are online everyday are more likely to be socially isolated than the people who use less of the internet.
The study is published in Ageing and Society journal. The study was conducted in people having an average age of 62 years. The researchers examined data collected from 4,492 people in England. It found that 19 per cent of the people reported high levels of loneliness and 33 per cent were socially isolated.
Lead author Stephanie Stockwell was quoted as saying that older adults who used internet weekly or monthly could better balance between their real world and online contacts. Stockwell said that their study could find that older people who used internet online occasionally were less likely to be socially isolated.
Te internet is mainly used for searching information, sending mails and shopping. Sixty nine percent (over two thirds) of the surveyed reported of using the internet every day. The people who used to be online daily mainly used smarty phones and laptops were used by people who used the net less.
Another thing found was that daily internet users recorded similar levels of social isolation as those who did not use the net.
