Unfading Figures: The Elderly’s Use of the LINE Application for Old School Friends’ Gatherings in the Virtual Community

Abstract

This article studies the behaviors of 6 Bangkokians aged over 75 who use the LINE application as their virtual community. It aims to answer the following questions: 1) How did old school friends reunite in the virtual community? 2) What are their behaviors when in the virtual community? 3) How does the virtual community affect these elderly people? In-depth interviews and non-participant observation were used as data collection methods. The findings are as follows: 1) This group of old school friends, consisting of those who were in consistent contact with friends and those who lost contact for some time, reunited in the virtual community because the class president added them on LINE; 2) Their virtual community usage behaviors comprise the sharing of information, video clips, and photographs, conversations on current events, and the sharing of collective memories of the living and late community members; 3) Participating in the virtual community has positive effects on them, namely loneliness reduction, moral support provision, and additional information reception while it negatively causes health problems and extra expenses.