Cedar Crest	UPDATED: Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Write a Comment on Story Print Email Story Add to Favorites

Social networking grows up

Posted on Thursday, November 01, 2007

By Julia Boyle
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

You may have heard your grandkids talk about their MySpace page and their friends on Facebook. Social networking websites like these are exploding on the Internet—MySpace was Google’s top gainer in 2005. But they’re not just for kids anymore.

Online networking among boomers and older generations is increasing in popularity, through websites like Boomertown, Eons, and Social Maturity. And as this demographic gains attention, more sites are being developed that are tailored just for them. For example, Touchtown helps people who live at retirement communities like Cedar Crest stay connected online.

Community resources at fingertips
Erickson Retirement Communities launched Touchtown’s Web portal at all of its campuses to provide a place where residents could easily find community resources and interact with one other.

The portal, called Resident Internet Gateway (www.ericksonresident.com), features the community calendar, TV schedule, local weather, menus for on-site restaurants, e-mail access, and other resources specific to each campus. It even offers more than 23 computer games like tennis, miniature golf, backgammon, and Sudoku!

While several features are accessible to the public, others—like the Resident Health Portal, maintenance request, and photo gallery—are only available to people who live at Erickson communities; access requires a username and password.

Staying connected
One section that requires a username and password is “Active Discussions.” There, users can post their thoughts on a topic and interact with one another through online conversations. This aspect of the site parallels the popular social networking websites.

Cedar Crest

More Cedar Crest

Services stay steady at Cedar Crest

Take a ‘staycation’ this fall

Cedar Crest at the movies

Keeping your mother tongue alive

Read or Add a Comment?

A call to end Erie Pa.'s relationship with "sister city" Zibo, China, and all Chinese imports.

No URL for Riderwood Blog

Laughter Yoga

Happy hour hot spots?

Model yacht clubs

Your thoughts on Reflexology

Tools

Write a Comment on Story

Email Story

Add to Favorites

Dolores Miller, who has lived at Cedar Crest for five and a half years, has used the Resident Internet Gateway since its inception there. “I use it a lot for the resident directory, which I find very helpful. I also use the events calendar,” she says on her way home from a swim in the pool. She adds that she’s going to log on to the computer when she gets there.

Unlike Miller, Marjorie Baldini doesn’t own a computer. But that doesn’t stop her from sending email. She’s in the computer lab at Cedar Crest, using the Resident Internet Gateway to access her Erickson e-mail account. “It’s easier and less expensive than sending a letter,” she says.

Gateway to the Internet
For more than two years Jack Spellman, an outside volunteer, has offered free tutoring at the community’s computer lab every Tuesday and Thursday.

“Touchtown is great because it’s easy to navigate,” he says. “And it works well for these users because they can browse the Internet from there and they automatically have e-mail access.”

Most people, Spellman noted, sign onto the Resident Internet Gateway first to check e-mail, then to browse community information, and finally to surf the Internet.