Luo, Y.M.; Ye, Q.W., and Guo, L.N., 2020. A comparative study on the social media usage in coastal city in China. In: Qiu, Y.; Zhu, H., and Fang, X. (eds.), Current Advancements in Marine and Coastal Research for Technological and Sociological Applications. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 107, pp. 362-367. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

WeChat, as the most widely used social media for the elderly in China, has attracted much attention from all walks of life. This study investigated and analyzed WeChat usage among 289 elderly people from a coastal city. It is found that the elderly have high usage activeness of WeChat and mainly use instant messaging and information interaction functions. At the same time, the elderly with different demographic characteristics show significant differences in usage activeness, function preference, and information topics concerned. This study provides valuable suggestions for promoting intelligent old-age care and providing social media services more in line with the needs of the elderly.