Older Adults' Online and Offline Social Interactions During the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, much of our social interaction has transitioned from in-person to online. This study examined older adults’ social interaction during COVID-19, online and offline. Participants were recruited from community-dwelling older adults in Central Texas. Data collection took place via the telephone during June-August 2020 (N = 200; age range: 65-92 years; Mean: 73.6; SD: 6.33). Participants used a variety of communication modes, including phone or texting (used by 99% of the participants); email (44%); in person (35%); video chat (31%); social media (24%); and postal mail (4%). Most participants (77%) used more than one communication mode. Participants discussed their preferences for and challenges of technology (i.e., smart phones) and its applications (i.e., video chat, telehealth, and social media). Participants’ self-reported experiences ranged from positive (50%), mixed (35%), to negative (15%). These findings will inform policy and community interventions to promote older adults’ social interactions during the pandemic.

Video Chat Technology to Support Home and Community-Based Organizations

Concerns about loneliness and social isolation for older adults were already evident but have been exacerbated during the pandemic. Home and Community Based Organizations (HCBOs) provide support for their older clients in the community and need to support their staff, who may be working remotely. We are exploring the potential of video chat technology to connect older adults with their friends, families, and other support. We review the technologies available to older adults in the community and staff working with older adults to promote social engagement. We are collaborating with OneClick.chat to identify the needs of the HCBOs through a literature review and qualitative interviews of staff members from different senior living environments. Their challenges and successes of engaging older adults through video chat technologies will provide guidance for design of an HCBO dashboard for OneClick.chat that will support diverse needs.

Video Chat Use and Mealtime Behaviors in Older Adults Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Video chat allows people to connect when not physically together. Using video chat while sharing a meal (VideoDining) may decrease loneliness and improve older adults' nutritional intake. We conducted a cross-sectional online survey study using Amazon Mechanical Turk in June 2020. The objectives were to learn about eating with others, the use of video chat, and interest in VideoDining in older adults during the pandemic. There were 1331 survey attempts with 167 responses meeting the criteria for age (65 years of age or older), U.S. residency, and quality. Participants were 64% male, 77% white, 65% college-educated, and a median age of 67 years (IQR=2 years). Few participants lived alone (17%), yet 76% reported feeling isolated. Eating with others regularly, defined as several times a week or more, declined in the pandemic (44% vs. 59% pre-pandemic, p=0.0002). The use of video chat and eating when video chatting increased during the pandemic versus pre-pandemic (82% vs. 74%, p=0.003; 47% vs. 37%, p=0.0005). The majority of participants said they would VideoDine (50%) or consider trying it (37%). Interest in VideoDining did not vary by age, race, or gender. Participants who used video chat were more likely to say they would VideoDine than participants who had never used video chat (OR=3.1; 95% CI=1.25, 8.35; p=0.02). This data suggests most adults 65 years of age and older, already using the Internet, are experiencing isolation and decreased mealtime commensality during the pandemic. The vast majority are using video chat and are interested in trying VideoDining.

Effect of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on Technology Use: In-Person versus Video-Chat Communication

COVID-19 risk-reduction efforts have protected high-risk individuals (including older adults) but have significantly altered life; persons now face reduced socialization. Advancing technologies (e.g., video-chat) may be useful in alleviating consequences of risk-reduction efforts, including loneliness, by improving access to alternative connection/communication across the lifespan. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between technology use and individuals as this may contribute to well-being among older adults during COVID-19 and future isolating events. Participants (N=652) aged 19+ completed a questionnaire via Amazon Mechanical Turk; demographic, socialization, and technology-use data were collected. Respondents (MAge=45.15±15.81) were generally male (50.1%) and white (77.3%). In-person communication and video-chat were analyzed descriptively and with binary regressions. Results of a Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks Test indicated that video-chat (mean rank=228.45) was reported at higher frequency of use versus in-person conversations (mean-rank=202.48), Z=-4.8,p<.001). Additionally, being female positively predicted use of video chat (B=0.42,p<.05) while increasing age negatively predicted use (B=-0.01,p<.05). Regression results suggest that populations reporting higher video-chat communication (e.g., females, younger adults) may be motivated by maintaining social connectedness despite distancing and/or are committed to healthy behaviors, increasing aversion to in-person experiences. In contrast, it may be that persons reporting low video-chat use (e.g., males, older adults) may be less interested in distanced communication or may have lower technology comfort/access. Notably, sampling bias may influence results as data was collected online; future investigation is warranted. Ultimately, understanding interest in and barriers to using technology is vital to developing systems/services which support connection/communication when in-person contact is limited.

Native American Elders’ Experiences during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Case Studies

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected community-dwelling elder adults’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. We report 4 case studies of Native American elders’ pandemic experience. Participants were recruited from community-dwelling older adults in Central Texas. Data collection took place via in-depth, semi-structured telephone interviews during June-August 2020. Four of the participants self-identified as Native American. Three of them were male; between the ages of 74 and 75; had at least some college education. The fourth Native American elder was a 68 year-old female with some college education. All four participants were coping well with everyday life during the pandemic. Connectedness emerged as the overarching theme among the 4 cases. Regular communication with their families was expressed as most important. A variety of communication technology was used to maintain contact with family members such as phone calls, texting, email, and video chat services particularly Zoom, FaceTime, and Facebook Video Chat. Challenges with using these technologies were also frequently reported. The participants expressed they did not feel a sense of increased loneliness or loss of being connected. Another theme emerged related to surviving the impact of the pandemic. Having the vaccine accessible along with financial resources necessary to sustain essential needs were most frequently expressed by the participants. These findings have implications for community interventions and policies that support the provision of mechanisms for Native American elders to maintain a sense of connectedness, including the adoption and use of communication technology, during times of crises such as pandemics and natural disasters.

Revisiting the Relationship Between Deception and Design: A Replication and Extension of Hancock et al. ()

Evidence published nearly 20 years ago suggested people tell more lies per social interaction via synchronous, distributed, and recordless media (the phone) versus relatively richer (face-to-face communication) and leaner media (email, instant messaging). With nontrivial changes to the size and variety of our media landscape, it is worth re-examining the relationship between deception and technology. Over 7 days, 250 participants reported their social interactions and lies across face-to-face communication, social media, texting, the phone, video chat, and email. Replicating Hancock, Thom-Santelli, and Ritchie (2004), people told the most lies per social interaction over synchronous, distributed, and recordless media (the phone, video chat), though the effects were small and between-person effects explained more variance than between-media effects. Lying rates were also associated with aversive personality traits, plus antisocial, and relational deception motives. Together, while media options have evolved, technological design features often remain stable and indicate deception rates. Theoretical contributions are discussed.

MAPPING DISCORD’S DARKSIDE: DISTRIBUTED HATE NETWORKS ON DISBOARD

Scholars and journalists have noted that Discord, a social application oriented around voice/video chat communities and popular amongst gamers, has a history of harboring white supremacist and toxic groups. Discord has recently undertaken a public rebranding to distance itself from white supremacist, alt-right, and hateful content through a commitment to proactive moderation (Brown, 2020). However, Discord relies extensively on third-party services (like bots and server bulletins), and current scholarship has not adequately accounted for the role of such third-party actors in facilitating hateful and white supremacist networks on private platforms like Discord. This study notes how Discord’s model for curating only popular servers offloads the ethical burden of searchability to server bulletin sites like Disboard, to deleterious effect. This study involves two parts: 1) we use critical technoculture discourse analysis to examine Discord’s blogs, moderation policies, and API (Brock, 2018) and 2) we present data scraped from publicly-available descriptions and tags of 3,600 Discord servers listed on Disboard. Our study finds that thousands of servers on Disboard use overtly white supremacist and hateful tags, often advertising their ‘edgy’ communities as racist, raiding-oriented, and deliberately toxic. These servers exploit Discord’s moderation tools and Disboard’s networked affordances to proliferate within Discord’s distributed ecology. Ultimately, we argue that Discord’s response to hate, as a platform, does not address its reliance on unmoderated third-party services or the networked practices of its toxic communities.

The Internet-Based Conversational Engagement Clinical Trial (I-CONECT) in Socially Isolated Adults 75+ Years Old: Randomized Controlled Trial Protocol and COVID-19 Related Study Modifications

Background: Increasing social interactions through communication technologies could offer a cost-effective prevention approach that slows cognitive decline and delays the onset of Alzheimer's disease. This paper describes the protocol of an active project named “Internet-based conversational engagement clinical trial (I-CONECT)” (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02871921). The COVID-19 pandemic related protocol modifications are also addressed in the current paper.Methods: I-CONECT is a multi-site, assessor-blind, randomized controlled behavioral intervention trial (RCT). We aim to randomize 320 socially isolated adults 75+ years old [160 Caucasian and 160 African American participants, 50:50 split between those with normal cognition and mild cognitive impairment (MCI)] recruited from the community to either the video chat intervention group or the control group (1:1 allocation). Those in the video chat group receive a computer and Internet service for the duration of the study, which they use to video chat with study staff for 30 min/day 4×/week for 6 months (high dose), and then 2×/week for an additional 6 months (maintenance dose). Both video chat and control groups have a brief (about 10 min) telephone check-in with study staff once per week. The primary outcome is the change in global cognitive function measured by Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) from baseline to 6 months. Secondary outcomes include changes in cognition in memory and executive function domains, emotional well-being measured by NIH Toolbox emotional battery, and daily functional abilities assessed with the Revised Observed Tasks of Daily Living (OTDL-R). Eligible participants have MRIs at baseline and 6 months. Participants contribute saliva for genetic testing (optional consent), and all video chats, weekly check-in calls and neuropsychological assessment sessions are recorded for speech and language analysis. The pandemic halted research activities and resulted in protocol modifications, including replacing in-person assessment with remote assessment, remote deployment of study equipment, and revised targeted sample size.Discussion: This trial provides user-friendly hardware for the conversational-based intervention that can be easily provided at participants' homes. The trial aspires to use age and culture-specific conversational materials and a related platform developed in this trial for enhancing cognitive reserve and improving cognitive function.