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Schools

'Tweeting' Not Just for Birds

Hatboro-Horsham High School students are helping Ann's Choice residents learn to use Twitter.

At sprawling retirement living complex in Warminster, seniors are spending several afternoons every week helping residents learn more about their computers and different social networking sites.

The high school seniors are helping the Ann’s Choice seniors as part of a program called “Seniors Helping Seniors.” Teens help and teach the seniors in the community’s computer lab Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for two hours after school lets out.

“This program is the perfect inter-generational opportunity for the residents and students to meet each other and forge relationships,” Ann’s Choice Spokesman Tony Ciavolella said.

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Resident Ethel Bellaus loves the community service program and said, “It’s nice of these these students to take their time to help us.”

“It gives me a good feeling to come here and help the community,” said student Amrit Singh.

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On a recent afternoon, the high schoolers were working with the seniors to teach them how to use Twitter, the micro-blogging and social media service.

The residents, many of whom regularly use e-mail and Facebook, asked questions about Twitter, which has 200 million users as of March 2011. The senior citizens asked questions about retweeting, following other Twitter users and why their messages were limited to 140 characters.

“Twitter isn’t our world, we grew up writing letters,” resident Maureen Guim said in response to Twitter’s 140 character limit. “I’m not going to be tweeting to people, I’m going to be using it to look for information.”

Hatboro-Horsham senior Peter Brzezinski said residents took quickly to using Twitter. When asked whether he would let any of the residents follow him he said, “Sure, if they want to.”

“So far, [Twitter] is very interesting,” resident Dick Blackburn said. “It all seems complicated until you get into it and play around.”

Blackburn said he enjoys using the Internet to communicate because he suffers from severe hearing loss and reading a conversation is easier than hearing it.

Bellaus said she enjoyed learning how to use Twitter and boasts that she now “follows” Lady Gaga.

According to data provided by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, as of May 2011, 13 percent of adults 65 and older log on to a social networking Web site on a typical day.

As the forward thinking and tech-savy Baby Boomers reach the age of 65 it is expected seniors use of social networking will continue to grow.

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