Grandparents Are on Facebook, Too

As someone who lists pinot grigio as a hobby, I was seriously concerned about
my grandfather joining Facebook.

I was worried my grandfather would get the wrong idea about me. Or worse yet,
he'd find out exactly who I was - not the teetotaling granddaughter I try to
portray twice a year when I go home.

And that's just what happened: We got to know each other through a social
networking site that many 30-somethings haven't learned to use, let alone
octogenarians.

"I don't browse Facebook much, but I see that it is a way to get to the
nitty-gritty of a person's character," my grandfather explained. "Also a way to
do something late at night when I can't sleep."

Turns out, my grandfather isn't the only one with an AARP card using social
networking sites.

Facebook estimates that it has a few million users over the age of 65.
MySpace claims to have 6.7 million users age 65 and over on its site. In fact,
according to MySpace spokeswoman Jessica Bass, older users are among the site's
fastest growing demographic.

Seventy-one-year-old Lynne Bundesen of Santa Fe, N.M., is one of them. Why
did she join? "To keep track of what my grandchildren are doing, of course," she
said.

Her grandson, 27-year-old Russell Simon, knows that but doesn't mind.

"It keeps her young to be on there, in more ways than one," he said. "She
puts these very young pictures of herself up there. She was beautiful. Just
seeing her when she was young, out on a boat with her hair flowing, it makes me
think of her differently.

"But mostly, it's so she can spy on us, not so we can learn about her," he
said half-jokingly.