If your senior years tend to feel isolated or lonely, some social time can help to cure that. Socializing with the people around you provides many benefits. It can increase mental alertness, encourage physical activity, fight depression, relieve physical discomfort, and create a support system. Social media may not come to mind when it comes to community, but it can be a great resource to build community and be social. You can even find hobbies and interests that you enjoy to fill your time with.
Staying in Touch with Family
Social media has enabled people to stay in touch with their family and loved ones like never before. It has given loved ones who live further away the ability to see their friends and family from a distance and stay in communication. Social media has been incredibly huge during the pandemic because loved ones have had to social distance themselves from each other.
Being able to connect so instantly and efficiently has made connecting with others a breeze. Even if you are spending a lot of time at home, connecting so easily with friends or family will help you feel less lonely and have that connection. You can text, talk on the phone, or even video chat.
Use Social Media to Learn a New Skill
During your senior years, you will likely have a lot of free time. Fill that free time up with learning a new skill. Social media has so many pages and resources on new skills you could pick up. Learning is a great way to fill time and switch your attitude whenever you’re feeling bored or lonely. You can watch YouTube videos, read blogs, and view pages on skills or topics you’re interested in. If you want to learn more about a topic like Medicare, there are so many online resources. Many people have picked up learning a new language from online sources.
Pick Up Some Extra Income
You may not think it, but social media has become a way to make an income. Working online can bring money through if you’re looking for some extra cash flow in retirement. People make an income on social media through freelancing, monetizing their audience, and selling products and services.
If you invest some time each day into putting yourself out there on social media and making some money – it’ll happen. Pick your niche and what area you would like to sell in and make that happen.
Build Community
There are several forums and groups on social media that are like a community based on all kinds of topics. If you are into golfing, there’s a group online for that. If you’re into cooking, there’s an online group for that. You can join groups regarding topics you are interested in and meet like-minded people.
Research New Places to Visit
A great cure for feeling lonely is getting out and about. You can find new places to visit on social media by looking up locations. You could look at locations far away from you, or you could look at locations in your own city. Take some time and get out and about! There is so much to see in the world. It could be a state or country you’ve always wanted to visit. Or it could be a new restaurant that opened in the city that you’ve wanted to try out.
Conclusion
Your golden years are a time to enjoy life and spend your free time trying new things and building community. Don’t let isolation and loneliness ruin your golden years. Social media has some benefits of preventing loneliness. Staying in touch with family, using social media to learn something new, and picking up some extra income are great ways to avoid loneliness and get yourself busy. You can also use social media to build community and research new places to visit. Social media is best used when you can find resources that build onto your life.
