Email

First, and foremost, among the attractions of the Internet for the senior generation is the potential for a closer contact with family members. Grandparents may find it difficult to be present in the homes of their children and grandchildren, but they can always send email.
At meetings and family gatherings, it is often an unfortunate reality that elders tend to remain silent, or, when they do rise to speak they may not be able to get their point across before they lose the attention of the younger generations. But with email, a person can get the message across. This small, seemingly insignificant fact, enables previously unheeded advice to be disseminated among the exact people for whom it is intended.
Keeping in touch with family members has never been as easy as with email on the Internet. Instant communication is possible for everyone with a computer and a modem. Much more convenient than the telephone, because the recipient doesn't have to present at the time of the communication, email makes it possible to send a long message or just a brief note, at any time of day or night.
The advantage to the family of being in touch with their parents and grandparents is that if there's a problem they will know about it immediately. The advantage to the senior member is that no matter how far afield the family has strayed, they can be reached instantaneously.

In addition to this family communication, many senior citizens write to eachother regularly, just keeping up with whatever interests them and exchanging stories, jokes and amusing cartoons they pick up around the Internet.

(The following is adapted from the book: "Freenet For the Fun of It" by Rosaleen Dickson and Pierre Bourque, published 1995, ISBN 0-919942-14-8)

Electronic mail
If you have a Freenet address, you're lucky because everyone on freenet has an email address which connects them to the Internet, and thus to the millions and millions of people who have email addresses around the world. If you're not a "freenetter" you may have other access to email - in any case, the principal is usually the same. An email address consists of three parts:

1. An id (identification). Some people use nicknames, acronyms, or contractions. Mine is simply rosaleen

2. A location which would be the host for your email preceded by @. Since my "host" is Flora Community Network, my "location" is @flora

3. A domain, or general category, preceded by a period, called a "dot". In many cases here it's Canada, written .ca, or, as in the USA, it might be .com, or .org, for organization, or .edu for educational institution, and mine happens to be .org because Flora Community Network is an organization. (Other domains indicate countries such as au for Australia, uk for Britain, etc.)

There are no spaces in an email address and no period at the end. The interior periods are called dots. My email address, expressed over the phone, is: "Rosaleen at Flora dot org"

Reading your email
If you have an email account somewhere, everyone in the world can find out about it and anyone can write to you. Lots of those people will be trying to sell you something, or interest you in things they do, but also there will be electronic neighbours, family and and friends trying to get in touch with you this way.

SO - if you do have an email address it's only fair to check in frequently. Delete the intruders you don't want to deal with, but answer your friends, unless you want to lose them!

FAMILY - email is the most convenient device yet invented for keeping up to date with the whole gang, no matter where in the world they happen to be. For seniors, it's an immense boon. We never again have to wonder how the kids are getting along - we can find out in minutes.

BUT - don't be too quick to delete the letters from people you don't know yet. Sometimes a stray letter can lead you to an interesting group - just take the time for a quick glance. Chances are they got your id from some Web site you were investigating. They might be right in thinking you'll be interested in them. So have a look - then, if you still can't be bothered, delete and forget.

ONE GREAT THING ABOUT EMAIL - is that it is private - as long as you are the only person using your computer. The minute you let someone else in the door, your privacy is out the wondow. Enough said!