The Pursuit of Knowledge, Attitudes and Communication Behaviors through Social Networking Sites of the Elderly in the Bang Kaeo, Bang Phli, Samut Prakan.

Abstract

This research is a mixed methodology research utilizing quantitative and qualitative methodologies. This research consists of six objectives: 1) to study the pursuit of knowledge about communication through social networking sites of the elderly. 2) to study attitudes toward communication through social networking sites of the elderly. 3) to study the communication behaviors through social networking sites of the elderly. 4) to study the correlation between the pursuit of knowledge about communication through social networking sites and attitudes toward communication through social networking sites of the elderly. 5) to study the correlation between the pursuit of knowledge about communication through social networking sites and communication behaviors through social networking sites of the elderly. 6) to study the correlation between attitudes toward communication through social networking sites and communication behaviors through social networking sites of the elderly. The samples of the study are those who are elderly living in Bang Kaeo village, situated in Bang Phli district, Samut Prakan province, Thailand. The numbers of the samples are 360. Researcher collected and analyzed the data from the questionnaires with descriptive statistics such as Frequency, Percentage, Mean, Standard Deviation and Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. Additionally, In-depth interview with the 15 elderly samples was employed to investigate more extensive and deep information from the questionnaire.

The result showed that the sample is female. They are between 60 - 65 years old. Their highest education is bachelor degree. Most of them are private business. Monthly income is less than or equal to 15,000 baht. The source of income is from the current occupation. They have a marital status and live together with spouse. The most elderly have a medium level of the pursuit of knowledge about communication through social networking sites (= 2.99, S.D. = 0.786.) They had a medium level of attitudes toward communication through social networking sites (= 3.34, S.D. = 0.792). Also, they had a medium level of the communication behaviors through social networking sites (= 3.00, S.D. = 0.804). Regarding hypothesis testing, there is a significant level of statistics at 0.05. The result showed that the pursuit of knowledge, attitudes, and the communication behaviors through social networking sites have a positive correlation.

The interview data obtained from the samples showed that the elderly have the pursuit of knowledge about communication through social networking sites from mass media, personal media, new media, and ac hoc media. They learned how to make a call, send a message, and picture via LINE application. Moreover, the elderly had positive attitudes toward communication through social networking sites as it is a useful communication device. The social networking sites help the elderly seeking information and knowledge. They also reported that the social networking sites are easy to use, and they are convenient for communication. As for the communication behaviors, the samples frequently use LINE, and Facebook. They used no more than 30 minutes per time. The samples use the social networking sites for communication with friends, and children. They also use it for seeking information and knowledge, and also for business communication. The disadvantage of the communication behaviors was also found that using the social networks may cause misunderstanding in communication. Also, using the social networking sites sometimes waste their time