Practicum 7- Tom

I’m in my last few weeks of research, and I still haven’t given up on finding a senior community. Last week, I read about the website Winster.com. It was being promoted as a game site that seniors frequent. I joined earlier this week, and I’ve spent a little time exploring the site. Winster isn’t marketing itself as specifically for seniors, but I noticed that it is really easy to navigate. There are windows that pop up to guide you through every process. If I abided by the stereotype that seniors were not computer savvy, I would think this was a great way to attract seniors. The main reason I was interested in Winster was because it has an interesting chat aspect. Each game room has its own chat room. I was welcomed almost right after I entered the room. The site prompted me and told me how to play the game. Instructions were clearly labeled on the sides. While there were only 4 other people in my particular room, they were all friendly. Someone asked me to do a “trade”, and I was unsure how. I told her I was new, and she said: “that’s fine, we will help you.” Then she showed me what to do through chatting. They gave me advice and tons of positive feedback when I made a trade that was beneficial. Although I haven’t had an extensive amount of time to explore the site, I plan to find out more about Winster and its connection to seniors. I want to establish how friendships are formed on the site and whether the population has a high percentage of seniors. I’m also continuing to follow a few blogs and conduct interviews with a few seniors. On the whole, I'm still finding that seniors are integrating themselves into various communities throughout the Internet.