Exploring the case of Belgian retirees’ practices and opinions on social media : a two-approach study through a quantitative survey and interviews

In our highly digitalized society, the influence of social networks is central to people’s lives, especially the younger generation. In addition, society has always been concerned about the adoption of new technologies by older people, particularly due to the belief that they have less ability to use them, having grown up in a life without their use. The objective is to identify the habits of retirees on social media, especially through their motivations for joining these platforms to their communication practices, as well as how they handle emotions. A joint analysis of quantitative and qualitative data reveals that elderly people do not use social media passively, but are truly engaged on these platforms, despite some concerns about their privacy. Maintaining contact is very essential for retirees but contact with close family is not more frequently achieved through social networks. Contacts with them occurred via traditional means of communication or physically. However, sharing their opinions is not a practice that is adopted by all. Some of them are willing to share their opinions on their social media, considering being the essence of such platforms. Feelings, on the contrary, are considered to be personal and therefore, they are not expressed publicly by participants.