Seniors Join the Social-Media Throng

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Joan Davi felt out of the loop with her family.

She blamed distance on some of the dry spells. It's a six-hour drive from her home in Greensburg to Middletown, N.Y., where she lived much of her life and several of her grandchildren stay.

Phone calls to the grandchildren had to do. However, the conversations, would be brief and random.

"It was frustrating for all of us, but what can you do?" she says. "Young people just don't do handwritten letters with paper and pen anymore."

Jarna Maniguet, her oldest daughter, set up an account for Davi on the social networking website Facebook, so she could follow birthdays, baby steps, even her grandson's …