Seniors Mastered the Art of Friending & Likes at my Microsoft / AARP Get Connected Workshop

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Mastering the art of social media - Facebook, Twitter, YouTube - is something many have conquered, but now more and more seniors are jumping on the social bandwagon as well.

For seniors "liking", commenting and defriending are foreign concepts but at AARP's Get Connected event held in Spokane Thursday, 350 seniors took the plunge to learn how to master social media.

Nancy Pritt was among those who wanted to take the plunge online. "I want to learn more, I want to get involved and do it," she said. "I'm pretty empowered about the whole thing ... I'm ready to start."

She, along with other seniors like her, are getting some help from Marsha Collier, the author of "Facebook And Twitter For Seniors For Dummies."

"It's a great way to build your life as you get older it doesn't have to get smaller it can get bigger," Collier said.

While it might be scary at first, Collier says it's time to dive in

"They just need that little extra push to get people online, stalk your children thing, I stalk my daughter all the time," she said.

A study recently found people 65 and older are the fastest growing age group in the State of Washington joining Facebook. And while Nancy Pritt might not have a Facebook account yet, she already knows the lingo.

"A comment would be I saw you on at the AARP session of Get Connected ... you look great and I'd go "like" it," she said.

Then there's friend requests …

"That means you want to ask them to be invited into your program."

… and of course a "Like."

"To like something means you agree with that comment or statement it's a thumbs up."

With the lingo down, now Nancy is ready to get connected on her own online.

"I've got some shopping to do so … right after this I'm looking forward to get going with it," she said.

via kxly.com