In November, ADSRI released a Facebook application called AuSON (Australian Seniors’ Online Networks), which will help shed light on how Australian seniors are using the Facebook social networking site to connect with friends and family, and how social networks can contribute to ageing productively.

The AuSON Facebook application has been developed as part of a four-year Australian Research Council Linkage Project, Social Networks and Ageing Project (SNAP), with industry partner National Seniors Australia. The project is led by Associate Professor Heather Booth and the other chief investigators are Associate Professor Robert Ackland (who led the development of AuSON) and Dr Timothy Windsor (Flinders University). The project team also includes PhD students Pilar Rioseco and Mahin Raissi, and software developers Lin Chen and Mahmoud Sadeghi.

Initially AuSON was designed to collect information about Australian Facebook users who are 50+ years old. We have some preliminary results from using AuSON and are wanting to collect more information. The target population of the research project is Australian seniors; however we plan to open AuSON up to all Australians who use Facebook soon.

The collected information on the social network structures of Australian people which is combined with other information about their social capital and well-being will enable researchers to better understand the role of online and offline social networks on well-being of Australians.

Continuing work of the research team in addition to feedback from participants and other researchers, has led to improvements in AuSON in terms of both appearance and functionality. The research needs more participants. If you use Facebook and especially if you are 50+ years old and eligible to vote in Australia, you are welcome to use AuSON at: http://auson.anu.edu.au.

Earlier news item about AuSON

Image: The image above is a representation of the Facebook-friends networks of about 50 Australian seniors.

Home page of the AuSON

AuSON web page for grouping of friends

Further information and how you participate is available on the AuSON website.