Social media can be overwhelming for the over 50s, making us feel hemmed in, on show and under the microscope. In fact, so much so that ‘Faceboasting’ or ‘Facebragging’ has now become a recognised thing.
The Urban Dictionary defines it as: “To boast about your accomplishments or your exciting social life using Facebook status updates to show off to the world”.
So why is it? Are we needing a life boost so much that we’re compelled to constantly air our accomplishments and social shenanigans? Do we require validation that we’re doing good things for charity or holidaying to amazing places?
Are we becoming over sharers, providing photographic evidence, soppy selfies that husband bought gorgeous flowers for our anniversary or the baby grandson has cut his first tooth?
In the cold light of day it can be seen as false, photoshopped and unnecessary. We are there, “sprawling on a pin”, spitting out the butt ends of our days and ways, available for uncomfortable comparison.
Sometimes we just need to exit from a skewed view of reality, get back to basics and reconnect with friends in a simpler, healthier, more positive way.
SchoolMates is a new, fast-growing networking platform offering a refreshing alternative, allowing people to connect with friends from school and college days – a pared down, less competitive way of keeping touch.
Aimed at the 35 plus age group, which represents 50% of the population, the easy-to-use website caters for those who don’t want to get swaddled and overwhelmed, but still want to feel part of things.
SchoolMates stands out from the crowd as it makes users feel a part of the community and shared memories but NOT in competition and on show.
It brings together more than 32,200 schools, colleges, academies and universities across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales with numbers increasing every day.
SchoolMates enables people to move away from the rabbit hole of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds that get clogged with trivial updates and get straight to re-connecting with old friends, photographs, jokes, memories and laughs.
Free to join, SchoolMates requires very little information from new users. Simply enter your name, email and password and then the school name – plus years attended. You will then receive an email alert when other students from your year sign up.
Experts point out that nostalgia is good and comforting, reminding us of the way things once were and the happiness we felt in a less complicated world; that we get a new perspective on things by re-connecting with old friends, enabling us to see things in a new light.
Our health and happiness can also benefit by maintaining healthy social connections. By reconnecting with people from our past we can stand back and see our lives on a map as a much bigger, clearer picture. This also can often then also help with acceptance of the past and occasionally forgiveness, assisting long-term mental health.
“At SchoolMates, our mission is simple,” explains founder and CEO Chris Goodwin. “We’ve created a platform dedicated exclusively to helping people reconnect and keep in touch with former classmates,”.
“Our site encourages people to rekindle those special relationships from their youth, letting them look back to the ‘good old days’ of summer holidays spent with friends, memorable school trips, as well as less memorable moments like those dreadful school lunches.”
About the Author / Gareth Hargreaves
Gareth looks after all editorial content on 50connect. He is the Swiss Army knife of content ideas and production.
