Stitch: Social Media for Seniors 
When most people think of social media users, the image that pops into mind is decidedly not that of a senior. Granted, social media has quickly moved from being a trend amongst the young to something that people of all ages use and participate in, but seniors are still largely thought of as being late adopters to the social media game.
In fact, seniors over 74 are the fastest growing social media demographic. Instead of seeing social media as a waste of time, many seniors are starting to see the many distinct benefits it can offer people of their age group.
3 Reasons Social Media for Seniors is a Good Thing
Social media can provide a lot of useful purposes for a wide range of people, but some of its benefits are especially relevant to the needs of seniors.
- It can help seniors make new friends.
As seniors get older, it becomes easy for social connections to drift away. Friends pass away or move. And seniors often make the choice to move to be closer to their families or to live in a facility that better suits their needs, leaving behind friends in the process.
In the moment, it might just seem like part of life. For most seniors, the experience of losing or leaving behind friends won’t be anything new. But with age those losses can be a bigger deal, as it becomes harder to fill in the gaps with new friends when you can’t drive or your health problems make it hard to get out and be social regularly.
Social media gives seniors the ability to make connections anew in spite of any health or mobility issues they face.
- It gives them an all new network of peers.
A senior that lives near family may get plenty of social interaction each day with their kids and grandkids, but it’s not quite the same thing as having a social group their age that shares the kind of experiences and challenges that come with being a senior.
Social media can help them make contact with other seniors with similar interests that they can connect with in ways they can’t with their younger loved ones.
- It can prevent senior loneliness.
Senior loneliness isn’t just unpleasant; it’s a health hazard. Seniors need social connections as much as, if not more than, younger people do. Social media puts new connections within reach at a time in life where it can be especially hard to put effort into getting out and meeting people. Less effort is required, yet the results are still meaningful.
What is Stitch?
Plenty of seniors are joining Facebook and Twitter, but some of the benefits described above actually work better if seniors can join a social media network that’s designed just for them. That’s where Stitch comes in.
Stitch is social media specifically for people over 50.
While that means it won’t be a good space for seeing pictures of your grandkids – you’ll have to stick with Facebook or Instagram for that – limiting the network to seniors alone comes with some particular benefits.
What Makes it Right for Seniors?
Stitch does a few things to address the needs and concerns of seniors. To start, seniors are one of the demographics most frequently targeted for scams. Stitch takes special care to keep members safe by using an identity verification check to weed out potential scammers.
The site also addresses the discomfort many seniors have with online messaging by providing an option of member-to-member phone calls and offering customer service over the phone as well.
Finally, where seniors might find some other social media sites overwhelming, Stitch is more focused. You can specify what you’re looking for and find other seniors with shared interests. Whether that means you want to date, simply find some company for monthly wine tastings, or find another museum lover to go on trips with, Stitch makes it easy to hone in on what you most want.
For any senior that could use some new friends, but finds getting out to social events on their own stressful, Stitch could be just the solution to find your new best friend or activity partner.
Kristen Hicks
Kristen Hicks is an Austin-based copywriter and lifelong student with an ongoing curiousity to learn and explore new things. She turns that interest to researching and exploring subjects helpful to seniors and their families for SeniorAdvisor.com.