Practicum Post 6-Wiki Edit

This has been my hardest post to accomplish.  I have never had an issue finding a topic on WIkipedia before...until I was searching for information on Senior Citizens and their use of the Internet.  I searched "Senior Citizens and the Internet" and I got nothing.  I searched "demographics of Internet users" and still came up empty handed.  The "senior citizens" page was short and only addressed what the definition of the senior citizen was.  It also had a link to "old age" which I found kind of funny and not helpful at all.  I searched just "The Internet" and there was a small section about users which mostly contrasted use of different countries.  The article discussed the varying uses of men and women, but did not address age groups.  I was about to add some information about gender differences between senior citizens, but the page would not allow me to edit.  


I was about to give up-then I came across a the new phrase "silver surfer".  I had not seen this before, but apparently a Silver Surfer is "an older person who spends a lot of time using the Internet" (Wikipedia).  This isn't exactly what my Practicum has focused on--I have been interested in the growth of senior citizens on the web.  However, due to the lack of information on the senior citizen demographic using the Internet, I felt an addition to the Silver Surfer page was appropriate.  I found an article in the UW database explaining what silver surfers are searching for when they surf the web.  I also included the stat that the Internet has led to a decrease in emotional isolation and an increase in self-esteem in older people.  Here is the link to the page with my edit.  A survey was conducted in finding these stats.  It made absolute sense, since my research over the semester has furthered the information on what senior citizens are going to the web for.  Research has also shown that senior citizens are able to connect with more people, which would thus lead to more self-esteem due to the web.  A very cool feeling when your field work is backed up by credible groups or journals.  


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_surfer_(Internet_user)


Here is a screen shot of the page before my edit.  I found this interesting...at the top of the page before my edit, there was a box that said the page was an orphan with little information connected to it.  I'm glad I was able to add something to the page!!


Here is the link to my article.


http://erg.sagepub.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/content/12/1/24.full.pdf+html