Aging Alone, Gossiping Together: Older Adults’ Talk as Social Glue

OBJECTIVES: While older adults living alone face challenges to maintaining social ties, elders in urban areas also have unique opportunities for daily socializing that can buffer against loneliness. METHOD: Drawing on 5 years of ethnographic fieldwork among elders in New York City, this study presents empirical insights into the development of supplementary neighborhood-based networks of support for older people living alone and vulnerable to isolation. RESULTS: This study finds that elders who lived alone, without close kin, engaged in daily gossip about other older people they encountered as regulars in local eateries. Despite its negative reputation, gossip helped them connect and access less conventional social support close to home. The majority resisted formal organizations, such as churches or senior centers, and thus their interactions in public venues served as an important source of social involvement. In line with Gluckman's argument (1963), gossip betrayed emotional intimacy and caretaking that connected people who could have fallen off the social radar. DISCUSSION: Higher rates of divorce and lifelong singlehood, coupled with increased longevity, will compel greater numbers of older adults to construct alternative support networks. My findings suggest that more will draw these connections from unconventional venues such as neighborhood public places.