[00:00.00]UNIT 1
[00:21.50]Emall and Internet
[00:26.17]Integrated Skills Development
[00:31.92]Passage Seniors Find Fun on Web
[00:41.67]Thousands of Americans over 50 are discovering friens,fun,
[00:50.13]and new ideas on an Internet-based community called SeniorNet.
[00:57.18]"I am an old lady¡ªexcept on-line when I am 37,blonde and ready to roll,"
[01:06.82]says a repectable member of SeniorNet,
[01:11.26]a true community of seniors that includes a 104-year-old member.
[01:17.82]A fifth of Americans with Internet access,or 8-10 million people,are over 50.
[01:28.37]SeniorNet is non-profit site that develops very quickly
[01:35.74]thanks to voluntary contributions from its 25000 members
[01:42.79]and a handful of retirees who design the website
[01:48.75]and manage more than 200 discussion groups set up on the network.
[01:56.01]"Of course,the usual topics linked with old age are very much there¡ª
[02:03.17]health and financial questions¡ªbut they are not the only topics,"say Glen Gilbert,
[02:10.82]the site's director of development.
[02:14.77]Subjects ranging from cooking and knitting
[02:19.62]to digital cameras and politics are discussed,he says.
[02:25.08]"It's a place where one can break the isolation of a bedroom
[02:31.04]without having to leave it,
[02:34.80]where you can comfort one another in times of sickness,"Gillbert says.
[02:40.65]"But it is also a place where you can share in the happy moments of life,
[02:47.03]be it birthdays or even weddings."
[02:51.89]The almost complete liberty of expression provided by the Web
[02:58.23]also allows for a "men's lounge"which wives are asked to avoid,
[03:05.60]and for the constiution of a group of "gay and lesbian seniors."
[03:12.55]This group permits men and women to discuss issues that,
[03:19.31]in their youth,would have been shameful to them.
[03:24.77]One senior says that,"for a teacher like me,
[03:30.55]to come out at that time was a bit like signing your death sentence."
[03:36.89]SeniorNet has also established a network of 130 computer learning centers.
[03:46.35]These provide the basics on navigating the Internet
[03:52.12]and tips on setting up a website as well as a computer
[03:57.77]for those who lack their own equipment.