Ageing in a Networked Society - Social Experiment Study (2019-2020)

As part of the project Aging in a Networked Society: Older people, Social Networks and well-being a Social Experiment Study (ANS - SE) was conducted with the aim of assessing the impact of Social Networking Sites (SNS) use on loneliness and social isolation. The study is a randomized controlled trial conducted on people aged 78 and over residing in Abbiategrasso, a town located in the Milan area. The experiment involved 144 people divided into three groups: a treatment group (attendance to a course on SNS use), an active control group (attendance to a course on lifestyle education of older people) and an inactive control group (inclusion in a waiting list). The first dataset (called "esperimento") contains information about a multidimensional assessment received by the participants before and after the intervention. In particular, the assessment covered several dimensions: cognitive functions, general health, loneliness and social isolation. The second dataset (called "follow-up") contains information related to the assessment conducted on 130 subjects one year after the intervention. The assessment entailed also the collection of study members' views and perceptions on the role of ICTs and SNSs in promoting social relationships. The follow-up took place during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic and, although indirectly, it constitutes an interesting resource since it is concerned people particularly exposed to this Coronavirus.