Online Community Gaming for Boomers--My first Guest Blogger Barbara Katz--Part One

I'm back from vacation, rested and relaxed, and I'm eager to begin writing this blog again.

This holiday season I received an email from a boomer family member, Barbara Katz, who said that she played Scrabble online with her family every week. I was intrigued, since this is an area of Boomer life I hadn't considered. Could online gaming enhance Boomers' lives? She thought so! So I asked her to write a blog entry for me about how to use the online site she favors, Pogo.com. I had gone to the site and was very confused by it. Barbara agreed to make it simple for me and for other Boomers to understand.

Here is Part One of her guest blog and her biography.

Barbara R. Katz spent decades of her career consulting with businesses in computer training, communication technology, and business services.  A writer for newsletters and special publications, she spends a great deal of time on various types of websites aside from gaming, including marketing, research and social networking.

How Boomers Resurrect Family and Friend Game Play with a FREE New Social Network Made Just for Fun!

Our whole family will play Scrabble together next Sunday night. The interesting thing is that some of us will be in different states. Mom is in PA; I'm in South Jersey; my brother is in Florida, and my daughter is in Mays Landing, NJ. But Sunday, we have a date, a virtual location and the game is on!

I remember a simpler time when a radio, a television and a phone were the only technology in the house. Back then, we played board games and cards at home with our family and friends. That was entertainment and we loved it. There was always something to play and usually someone to play with. Our games gave us something active to do together as we entertained ourselves in our homes after school, work, homework, chores, and a home-cooked meal eaten as a family were completed. That sounds pretty much like ancient times to me now.

As we Boomers began our own families, we shared these games with our own children. Well, for a while, anyway. Soon, everyone headed in different directions as their schedules got busier. At about the same time, the personal computer entered the home. We each vied for time using the shared PC until each member of the family "needed” their own computer for work, study, play and communication. Suddenly, there was no gathering around the dinner table or card table to share in anything together on so many nights. 

We were each alone in our own worlds. Isolation grew and relationships grew more distant. In-person communication dwindled, as did shared activities.We were too busy for fun.

Now the tide is turning to play together again-because of the PC!

Today, there are great, easy ways to engage in playtime together, even if we are in different places and life stages. We can now take those personal computers and turn things around. You can have family game time and friend game time no matter where your family and friends live.

There is a whole new companionable FUN world a few keystrokes away; a world of online games, where you can chat with your family and friends, right in the game room! You can once again be actively involved in play and talk together. It’s wonderful and I’ll bet you are going to love it!

Dealing with Isolation Just Got a Whole Lot Easier

Oftentimes, isolation is a problem in our world as we age and our households shrink. When your family and friends (or YOU) have moved away or are not available on the same schedule, you can also play games safely with strangers. You can maintain anonymity, have fun, and even make new friends on-line, playing together whenever you choose.

Also, when you want time for some private solace, and downtime is what you crave, you can also play solitaire (or many other games).

Does any of this sound good to you?

It is easy to do all this, and here is the road map. 

I’ve posed some questions below to help you get started.

Where do I go? There are many online game sites. My favorite place is in the land of pogo. An experienced game site, pogo has so many games to play and ways in which to do so. There are always tens-to-hundreds of thousands of people worldwide playing on pogo.com at any given time! Imagine that if you can! Surely, you will always be able to find someone with whom to chat and play. And if you can’t, you can play against the pogo computer!

As your guest blogger this week, a pogo "regular" and a member who dates back several years with the site, I'll give you the KISS (keep it simple s-----) basics to enter and traverse the site. Don’t be daunted. You’ll be at play and having fun in no time. And while you are having fun, you can also win points, cash, and prizes. How cool is that?

"Stay tuned" for Part II of Barbara's Guest Blog! She'll give you step by step instructions about how to use Pogo's web site and will demystify playing games online.