II. ALLEVIATING CONCERNS REGARDING THE LIFE OF
ELDERLY PEOPLE USING SOCIAL MEDIA
According to Research Concerning the frequency of
social media (an investigation by the Ministry of Internal
Affairs and Communications, 2010), 34.5% of social media
users use SNS such as Facebook nearly every day in Japan.
25.9% of SNS users over 60 years of age answered they use
SNS nearly every day (table 1). Referring to table 2,
Purposes of using social media, the most common usage of
SNS by the elderly was for medical care or health purposes.
Referring to table 3, Anxieties or problems solved by social
media, more than 10% of all ages answered that SNS or
microblogs could help solve anxieties or problems
concerning not only their own health, life, and living
conditions in old age, but also that of their family or
relatives.