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The purpose of this paper is to bibliometrically analyze the gerontology-related research articles for a comprehensive understanding of the gerontology literature.

This study employed the approach of visual analytics on 32 journals with a total of 99,204 articles published after 2000 to identify the main subfields, keywords, and growth trend. The investigated journals are either open access online or listed in the Social Sciences Citation Index. In addition, the 200 most frequently cited papers were analyzed through bibliographic coupling, co-word, and co-citation analysis.

The selected most cited papers were mostly published before 2007, and psychiatry and psychology were the top research subfields. Dementia, older adult, and Alzheimer’s disease were the three most frequently occurring keywords, both in Author Keywords and KeyWords Plus. While coupling analysis yielded 12 research groups, co-word analysis classified the most frequently used 20 Author Keywords into two categories. Four research clusters were identified by the co-citation analysis.

This research provides a comprehensive view of the gerontology research as well as an understanding of the subfields and their interrelations. It also provides government departments with directions for formulating and executing policies affecting older people not only in setting academic and professional priorities but also in understanding the key topics related to older people.

This study was conducted to achieve the following objectives: (1) determine the differences and reasons for using outgroup OSNs by gender, age and student groups (Mainland and Hong Kong [HK] students); (2) uncover the impact of online social networks (OSNs) on the development of Mainland–HK friendships and (3) determine the roles of different OSNs (social networking sites [SNSs] and instant messaging platforms [IMPs]) in the development of intercultural friendships in the real world.

To explore how OSNs facilitate (or inhibit) intercultural interactions, 198 students completed a questionnaire and 24 students participated in follow-up semi-structured interviews examining the role of OSNs in intercultural friendship development.

Results revealed that demographic and motivational preferences for using outgroup-OSNs differed among students. Both IMPs and SNSs helped students maintain friendships using little effort, whereas it tended to strengthen their existing social networks, rather than helping to start new friendships. IMPs helped develop a sense of “presence awareness”, strengthening pre-existing friendships and solidifying offline connections. SNSs also assisted students in exploring their shared interests while revealing their values and cultural differences.

The authors’ findings offered empirical evidence on social exchange theory and anxiety-uncertainty management theory regarding the perceived benefit of OSNs on students' friendship development.

The study sheds light on the differences between Mainland Chinese and HK students, including participants' perceptions of different friendship stages.

This study is interested in the roles of different SNSs and IMPs in intercultural friendship development, especially their strengths and weaknesses as perceived by students. Also, the authors are curious about how students select and use IMPs and SNSs differently according to their individual preferences and needs. To the authors’ knowledge, the dynamic link between online communication and intercultural friendship development has not been thoroughly examined in the field of intercultural communication.