elders would contact the whole
world and community through information
technology. Because travel through information
society does not require physical movement, elder
persons can maintain virtual social networks from
their homes. Moreover, computer-based
communication is ageless, in that participants are not typecast according to physical appearance .
Elderly internetwork participants can choose to
identify themselves by age as a means to recruit new
social ties, or not, as they wish. They can even maintain multiple selves. Lastly, internet-communication is not bound by time or place. Participants can engage incomputer games, information searches, and chats at any hour of the day or night. Retirees with anincrease in unobligated time can exploit the temporal flexibility of the internet-mechanism for
their unique benefit.