Use of Social Media by Older Adults Jędrzej Wieczorkowski 1 , Katarzyna Fundowicz 2 and Malwina Popiołek 2 1 SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Warsaw, Poland 2 Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland jedrzej.wieczorkowski@sgh.waw.pl kasiafundowicz.15@gmail.com m.popiolek@uj.edu.pl DOI: 10.34190/ESM.20.052 Abstract: The article presents issues regarding the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) by older adults and senior citizens. Over 55 years old people who attend the Jagiellonian University of Third Age, took part in the survey conducted in 2019. The aim of the study was to find out if respondents use social network sites (SNS) and how they participate in specific activities on these websites in order to gratify their needs (questions focused most on the issues connected with privacy management and data security).The study was attended by 89 people (78 correctly completed survey sheets were analysed). The results show that respondents use the internet willingly and that they are also active in SNS. One of the main factors motivating them to do so is curiosity. They prefer Facebook, rarely use Instagram or Twitter. Through SNS, they contact both friends and family. Respondents are cautious about sharing private content and their skills are not sufficient to protect their privacy effectively. The findings of this study contribute to our understanding of older adults' SNS use. The topic is relevant from a social (e.g. digital exclusion) and economic (e.g. older adults as consumers) point of view. Keywords: social media, SNS, internet, older adults, seniors 1. Introduction The internet and social media initially provoked a lot of enthusiasm. The widespread access to information and communication technologies (ICT) was considered as a remedy for many traditional social problems, e.g. social inequalities and divides, because the Internet allows access to information, knowledge and contacts in a simple and cheap way(Tapscott and Williams, 2006; Benkler, 2006; Shirky 2008). However, the practice of social life has shown that the use of new technologies is more complicated and specific skills and competences are necessary for effective use of ICT (Jasiewicz, Filiciak, Mierzecka et al. 2015). The new media environment that is changing rapidly, may widen the information gap between those who can and those who are unable to follow the development of technology (DiMaggio, Hargittai, Numan et al., 2001; Schradie, 2011; Cebula, 2014; Brake 2014). Older adults (also called senior citizens here), as ICT users, are a specific group. The ICT technology appeared during their adult lifer. That is why older adults are called digital immigrants (Prensky 2001). To use modern possibilities of electronic communication, they had to get new skills, as well as change their habits regarding communication (digital literacy). Studies carried out in different countries show that active using of ICT can improve quality of life. Access to the internet gives older adults the opportunity to improve communication skills, develop their awareness, educational potential and commitment to self-development (Millar and Falk, 2000; Hong, Trimi and Kim, 2016; Seifert and Schelling, 2018; Räsänen and Koiranen 2016). Older Internet users are still a much smaller percentage of people using the Internet than other age groups. Although their number increases from year to year, and this increase is much more rapid than among younger users (Zickuhr and Madden, 2012; Szmigielska, Bąk and Hołda 2012). According to Eurostat (2019) research, only 55% of Poles over 55 years old use the internet. This value is much lower than the European average of 73%. However, only 48% of Polish users and 68% Europeans use the web at least once a week, which can be qualified as regular use. Older adults as an internally very diverse age group - both in terms of social activity (people still professionally active, retired and still active or completely passive) and psycho-physical - they are also a highly specific group of Internet users. As research shows, they use social networking, banking and online shopping much less often than others. They also publish their own content on the web less willingly than other users (Niemczyk 2016). This can be influenced by many different factors. As digital immigrants, older adults have different habits and media usage patterns. Using ICT requires many e-skills, especially in the sphere of social media which highly interfering with the private sphere and affecting our virtual identity. E-competences are best characterized by so-called catalogue and relational approach (Buchholtz, Jasiewicz, Tarkowski et. al. 2015). In the catalogue approach, the emphasis is on 330