Social media is a sphere where the majority of people try pretty hard to avoid their family – usually both their parents and grandparents alike.

It’s not that most people don’t want to keep in touch with their families: It’s just that we don’t necessarily want our grandmothers to see that our favorite bands include things named Cannibal Corpse, Wise Blood or Black Sabbath.

But unlike traditional social media websites, BBO might be the one exception where it’s a good idea to invite your grandmother. At worst, she’s going to see your bridge statistics instead of last week’s pub crawl.

Here are a few practical ways to convince your grandparents to get BBO – and yes, this can apply to anyone older in your life who might not know technology that well (and might not know BBO yet).

1. “Hey Grandma, you ever play bridge?”

A lot of older people past their seventies played bridge in their younger days and as things moved on in their lives, they just stopped. Usually they either report that they just got “too busy” or that they got to know less bridge players when they moved (or other players moved on the same way).

How much potential is there in getting these players to pick up the game again – except in online form?

Ask older people if they’ve ever played bridge before, and then follow this up by asking if they would consider playing again if they could track down other players at the click of a button.

For many people, this is more than enough to convince them outright.

2. “Hey Grandma, don’t you think it’s time to start dating again?”

Bridge isn’t advertised enough as a dating incentive.

I’m not saying that BBO should be revamped as a potential dating site or that married women should bar their husbands from the bridge table. But I can see that some bridge partnerships turned into marriages (and there are also just as many marriages-turned-bridge-partnerships in contrast).

There’s potential here for many older people (and I’d imagine many in care homes across the world) who have been without interaction – proper human interaction – for too damn long.

Bridge allows for meeting people: What happens from there is up to them, but it can be a great start to get to know others.

3. “Hey Grandma, want to try this?”

There are plenty of older people who still imagine that their smartphones are for nothing more than sending messages and occasionally beeping for no reason: If this describes anyone you know, one of the first steps to getting them to discover BBO is to show them how easy it is to access.

It takes just a link or bookmark. That’s about it. And if they can figure out how to switch their phone on and click their way through a few things, they can figure out how to access BBO and play a few hands.  

4. “Hey Grandma, how about some kibitzing?”

If the older people in question have any background in Yiddish, the term kibitzing isn’t going to surprise them. But if they don’t, this might take some explaining.

Kibitzing (or even streaming a bridge documentary) is a great way  to introduce or re-introduce someone to bridge. First have them watch a few games and see if this grabs their interest.

5. “Hey Grandma, want to stop forgetting where you leave your keys?”

It’s fair to say that the majority of older people realize that the possibility of Alzheimer’s and related dementia is there. An increasing number of younger people are realizing the same thing – and early-onset is a real risk. This can be more true if you have a family history of degeneration.

Bridge is one of the best ways to boost memory and brain capacity. Everyone’s memory has the capacity to slip, sometimes in small ways and other times in chronic, much more serious ways. But there are ways to counter it.

This alone can be another great reason to introduce someone older to BBO.