AN ANALYSIS OF CONTENT AND COMMUNICATION PATTERNS OF THAI ELDERLY FACEBOOK FAN PAGE

Abstract

Thailand has been gone closer an ageing society since 2005, as the number of citizens  aged 60 or older has steadily risen. The government supports the elderly to gain knowledge and access to news and media. According to the communication technology development. Social Media is one among many forms of technology that growing steadily.  Trend of older people using Facebook to communicate, learn, and share is increased. The researcher required to learn about the content and communication patterns on elderly fan pages in order to enhance the quality of  fan pages. The objectives of this research are to identify the varieties of contents on fan pages generated  by Pages admin (Manager or Content Creator)  and to analyse communication patterns on elderly Fan Pages. Purposive  sampling was used. To analyst the contents produced, 4 fan pages namely "@Oldbutnotchicken", @thaigri,  @elderenergy, @GenOldThaiPBS are used to investigate for data collection. The research findings from content analysis show that the Pages admin generated contents which are classifies into  6  areas  namely, health, exercise, psychology and mental health, activities,  learning skill, and elderly law. In the  point of view of socialization, there are intellectual, spiritual and behavioral. Furthermore, communication patterns of all fan pages uses verbal communication as such infographic, video, YouTube, and live video to share content on the page as well. However, lack of engagement from the audience. Facebook fan page is mass communication in a new media format to encourage elderly to learn and prepare themselves for self-development. Pages admin must be aware of  the varieties of content that related to audience needs and the two-way communication patterns. Research results will be a guideline for improving the content and communication patterns on the Elder Facebook fan pages as an effective learning source for elderly lifelong learning.