Since the recent introduction of social media technologies, there has been a widespread uptake and adoption by
users worldwide. Two of the most popular systems, Facebook and Twitter, have approximately 1.1 billion and 200-300 million active users respectively. Not only are these social technologies effective in providing a more
immediate form of communication with others (i.e. acquaintances, friends, family), they have also been seen as a
new and efficient medium to retrieve, share and disseminate information. This is due to the unique characteristics
and capabilities presented by these systems that have not previously been seen in other forms of Web-based
communication: direct and public peer-to-peer sharing of information, the “push” nature of such systems, the
ability to gather a large amount of up-to-the-minute information on specific topics of interest from various sources,
content evaluation amongst peers, and the formation of self-organizing information dissemination networks – to
name a few.
It has been found that there is a plethora of available and relevant online information that can provide consumers
with the knowledge and tools to understand and manage certain health conditions and illnesses. Whilst social
technology systems have widespread adoption by different users and demographics, it is only recently that there is
a trend of rapid uptake of these technologies also by older adults (Zickuhr & Madden, 2012). Due to the developed
world’s ageing population, there is consequently an increased incidence and prevalence of age-related conditions
and illnesses. Many of these age-related conditions (i.e. cardiovascular disease, dementia, osteoporosis) have
relevant information in terms of lifestyle and other health-related information that can be found through the
Internet. This presents an opportunity to achieve online health knowledge management amongst older adult
communities, and in turn decrease the extent of the future burden on the health sector around the globe.
The purpose of this paper is to introduce a novel framework in relation to how older adults can achieve informal
knowledge management through the use of social media technologies. The framework will draw upon previous
findings of online knowledge management as well as incorporate the identified characteristics of social media
technologies and older adult user requirements as mentioned. In addition, we will identify and analyze the
perceptions and preferences of a trial of 150 older adult participants using social media technologies, and describe
the match of these results to the suggested framework.