Ivy Bean has passed away at the age of 104. Most likely the oldest regular user (if not user) of Facebook, Ivy Bean kept her (at last count) 4,949 friends up to speed with her life.

On August, 15, 2008 an article described Ivy as being “the world’s oldest facebook user.” At that time she had 9 friends. In less than two years she found a way to touch an additional 4,940 people’s lives on a daily basis.

Born in Bradford, England in 1905, Ivy worked as a mill worker from the age of 14 until she was 73.

Ivy heard about Facebook.com from some caregivers at the assisted living facility that she moved into when she was 101. Within a year she was online and updated her account on a regular basis.

Ivy embraced the social networking website and was quickly embraced by a growing number of online friends and followers.

Below is an interview of Ivy in 2008. It isn’t what you think. She’s using a web camera, has a headset and is using Skype (or an online video program) to talk to Olly Mann on tv!

Ivy is a great example of how a senior can benefit from computer lessons and connect with friends and family online. What is clear from Ivy’s facebook posts is that she had local family that would regularly come and see her and engage her in activities and conversation.

Many of the 1.1 million seniors in the San Francisco Bay Area do not have family nearby that can regularly visit them. In fact, 9 out of 10 of these seniors want to remain in their homes making it less likely that they’ll receive computer lessons to get them online to connect with other people online like Ivy did.

The Belvedere-Tiburon Library in Marin County will host a senior week from Tuesday, July 13th through Friday, July 16th. This will be a great event for Marin County residents that are interested in learning about homecare, caregiving, aging in place, Alzheimer’s disease in Marin, dementia and anything else related to being an elder or having parents that are seniors.

Engage As You Age’s Ben Lewis will appear on several panels during the Marin County library’s senior week event. He’ll lead the keynote panel called “Senior Care 101″ which will address everything from how to screen and vet a homecare agency in Tiburon (and any other San Francisco Bay Area communities) to what local resources can help point you in the right direction (no matter your financial situation). This is a great panel if you’ve got an aging parent and are wondering about what is out there to help you. Learn how to save money and stress by asking the right questions in a largely unregulated industry.

Lewis will also lead a workshop on “Aging In Place Technologies” on Wednesday, July 14th. Contact Engage As You Age to learn more about Lewis’ panels or go to the Tiburon-Belvedere Library website to learn more about the event.

Also go to the Marin IJ for more details as well.

Do you know a senior or elder in San Francisco (or anywhere in the Bay Area or world) that has a hard time with a computer but would love to use Skype?

Asus (a Taiwanese company that makes laptops as well) has created a dedicated Skype Videophone that is called the AiGuru SV1T Skype Videophone.

The technical details for the Asus Skype Videophone are:

• Skype Certified Videophone supports
• 7″ (800×480) Touch Screen TFT LCD
• Integrated Speaker and Internal Microphone
• Fast Ethernet port; 802.11 b/g Wireless LAN
• 1x USB type A Port; 1x RJ-45 connector; DC Jack; Audio I/O Jack

This device is a great alternative for seniors that are frustrated with using a computer. Feel free to contact us at Engage As You Age if you’d like to learn more about this low-technology solution.

Engage As You Age has a page on Facebook (with 170 fans and counting!). Become a fan of us on Facebook and you’ll not only hear about our latest blog entries but also hear about Facebook-only discounts for new and existing clients.

Are you a senior that would like to learn how to get on Facebook? Contact us today and we’ll show you how to not only get comfortable with your computer but put you at ease on Facebook as you learn how to see photos of your grandchildren and even post your own comments and photographs. We’ve even helped non-seniors such as baby boomers and reverse parents learn how to get up and running on Facebook. Our computer lessons are senior-friendly and we’ll not only help you get online but make sure that you use computers, mice and keyboards that work well for you. Just because computers and equipment are marketed as “senior friendly” doesn’t mean that they are.

Contact us at 415-690-6944 if you live in San Francisco, Santa Clara, Marin, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and any other San Francisco Bay Area county.

Ruth, 85, and Leonard, 87, had both been married for 60+ years! Recently widowed, each of these Colorado residents decided to go online to try and see if they could find a companion. Ruth says that that you “shouldn’t be afraid to venture out there.” Backing her words with actions, Ruth tried match.com, an online dating website, and logged on as “livelylady23.” She listed skinny dipping as a turn on but noted that body piercing was a turn-off. Leonard, also listing body piercing as a turn-off, reached out to Ruth on match.com and fell in love with her. He says that it was her “wicked lasagna” that did it!

4 months after they met online they were married! Engage As You Age wishes Ruth and Leonard a happy 2010 Valentine’s Day!

If you’re a senior and looking for love online there are other website aside from match.com. A few examples include:

• Seniormatch.com
• Datingforseniors.com
• Seniorpeoplemeet.com
• Eharmony.com
  
• Jdate.com
  

We urge seniors to be cautious about meeting someone online or in-person. Never give any personal information to someone that you meet online. Always meet in a public place and don’t tell anyone your home address or any other personal information. People aren’t always who they say they are. Still, love can be found online (or by chatting up the person sitting next to you in an elevator, a store or a park) and these online websites can be a great resource for many seniors.

You don’t have to look for love on the internet. You can do a ton of other amazing things too. Many seniors are going online to connect with family, friends and new ideas. Still, we at Engage As You Age, believe that computers aren’t the cure all. Ruth and Leonard used a computer to find one another. Many homebound and isolated seniors don’t know how to get online to connect to someone. That’s where we can come in by helping them get online and/or  bringing someone that shares their passions to their doorstep. Chatting online, while a great substitute for face-to-face interaction, isn’t the cure all. Nothing beats sharing some laughs with a friend (or one of our great team members at Engage As You Age), debating, or sharing a favorite song, book or anything else.

Below is an ABC morning show video that discusses  Ruth and Leonard finding love online. Happy Valentine’s Day 2010 to seniors, their baby boomer children and everyone else.

A recent article in the AARP presents an interesting angle about seniors and baby boomers embracing new technologies that are out there. The focus of the article is on the growing trend of baby boomers (and even their elder parents) “sexting” on their cell phones. “Sexting” is a recently coined term that essentially a play on the term “texting” as it combines “texting” with “sex” and… you get the picture (or should I say text!).

While newscasts and articles regularly talk about the dangers of driving and texting and/or teenagers texting too much, this is one of the first articles we’ve encountered that discusses seniors sending and receiving text messages.

The Jitterbug, a popular cell phone that many seniors use, is able to send and receive text messages. While texting is often referred to being “fast, easy and fun,” it should be noted that senior-friendly cell phones like the Jitterbug, Doro and others don’t have dedicated texting keypads like many Blackberry and other smartphones do.

Click here for the AARP article on sexting.

At Engage As You Age we believe that this article highlights one of our central beliefs, people love to stay engaged with their passions throughout their entire life. Whether a senior is “sexting” or debating about politics, snapping photographs, sharing some laughs over a game of cards or practicing the piano, their lives are richer by pursuing what they love. Life should always be about more than medications and maintenance. It’s being connected to what you love that keeps you vibrant. Contact us today to learn how to use a cell phone, get up and running on a computer or have someone come read to you. We’re able to make technology easy for you and connect you with someone that shares your interests.

First and foremost, more and more seniors are getting online via personal computers. According to a 2009 Nielsen report, the number of seniors online has increased by 6.2 million since 2004 (from 11.3 to 17.5 million). We hear regularly from seniors in the San Francisco Bay Area that they’d love to learn what computers can do for them. Nielsen’s findings don’t surprise us at all at Engage As You Age. In fact, we expect the number to increase even more in the coming years. A lot of that has to do with baby boomers that are already becoming senior citizens suddenly being categorized as “elders” or “senior citizens.” Still, we’re currently giving computer lessons to a 97-year-old San Francisco Bay Area resident and many other 80-something elders.

Below are some of the other findings that Nielsen had with regards to seniors using computers.

The top ten activities that these seniors perform online are:

1. Sent a personal email (89%)
2. Viewed or printed a map online (69%)
3. Checked weather online (60%)
4. Paid/viewed bills online (51%)
5. Viewed/posted photos online (50%)
6. Read news (49%)
7. Checked personal health care information (47%)
8. Planned leisure trip online (39%)
9. Searched for recipes/meal plan (38%)
10. Read business/finance news (38%)

The top ten websites that these seniors visit are:

1. Google search
2. Windows media player
3. Facebook
4. YouTube
5. Amazon
6. Yahoo! Mail
7. Yahoo! Search
8. Yahoo! Homepage
9. Bing Web
10. Google Maps

Click here for more details on the Nielsen study.

Contact Engage As You Age today if you have an aging parent or partner that would love to learn how to get online and reconnect with old friends and family or watch a YouTube video of their favorite old show or their hometown.

On Thursday, November 19, 2009 @ 7:30 PM, Engage As You Age’s founder, Ben Lewis, will discuss technologies that keep families connected at the Belvedere-Tiburon Library in Marin County.

This discussion is a great opportunity to learn about ways to send and receive emails without a computer (or even an internet connection). He’ll also discuss computers and computer accessories that are marketed specifically to baby boomers, seniors and older adults.

Click here for details on the Belvedere-Tiburon Public Library and click here for specific details on the events.

Engage As You Age will be leading a panel discussion on “Aging In Place” at San Francisco State University on November 18, 2009.

FACT: 9 out of 10 baby boomers and seniors want to remain in their own homes throughout their entire retirement.

This panel discussion will cover not only what options are out there for seniors today but what will be available for the growing number of San Francisco Bay seniors area in the coming years.

Right now there are 1.1 millions seniors in the greater bay area. There will be 1.6 million seniors by 2020!

Ben Lewis, Founder of Engage As You Age, will present as well as Tessa ten Tusscher (CEO and Co-Founder of Living Well Assisted Living At Home), Laurel Etheridge (Director SF Region, Eldercare Services) and Martin Simenc (Founder, Home Safety Services).

If you’re interested in learning about any of the following topics you should come:

• fall prevention
• caregiving
• creative aging
• technologies that keep families connected
• concierge services for seniors
• creating community while remaining in your own home
• alternatives to living in assisted living facilities, continuing care communities or nursing homes
• home safety
• technologies that allow you to safely remain in your home….

Read the OLLI Newsletter to learn more about this event or call Engage As You Age at 415-690-6944 if you have any specific questions.

This “Aging Explorers” event will take place on:

• Wednesday, November 18th
• 12pm – 1:45 pm (panel discussion)
• 2pm – 3:15 pm (question and answer session)

At: SF State Downtown Campus, 835 Market Street, 6th Floor, Room 609, San Francisco, CA, 94103

Note about location: It is adjacent to the San Francisco Shopping Center and directly above the Powell Street Bart Stop.

We recently had one of our clients ask us about Facebook. Lloyd, in his 80s, wanted to know what all the talk was about and if he should be using it. He ultimately decided that it wasn’t worth his time because he had been in touch via email with his family (and in particular his grandchildren).

This conversation got us thinking about who is the oldest active user of Facebook. We also are wondering what they use it for and what inspired them to get started with it.

A quick google search led us to Ivy Bean who, at the age of 104, only has one comment on Facebook on her profile page. She does however have over 4000 friends (far more than the author of this blog!). We wonder how many other 104-year-old people are on Facebook, let along have a computer that they actively use.

Below is a photo of Ivy Bean:

We’d love to learn the following from you:

1) Who is the oldest person that you’re “friends” with on Facebook that you know is using the application THEMSELVES?

2) Who is the oldest person using Facebook that you could find?

3) Has anyone used Eons? What other social networking websites would you recommend for seniors, elders and older adults?