Charles was eighty-seven when his health took a turn: it started with congestive heart failure, then circulation problems. He had a few falls and became increasingly forgetful. His children visited as often as they could and called regularly, but they were worried.

It was his son John who suggested setting up a Tyze network for their dad. At first his sisters didn’t like the idea. They didn’t use email much and were uncomfortable with the way sites like Facebook make people’s lives so public, but John assured them that as well as being simple to use, everything on Tyze would be kept private.

A retired banker, their father lived alone in a quiet Scottish town. He had been strong and fit into his mid-eighties, traveling to visit his three children in their far-flung homes, and joining his son John, an airline executive living in British Columbia, on fishing trips. But now his health was failing and his children felt keenly the miles that lay between them.

It took less than a week for Tyze to prove its usefulness. As well as John and his sisters, Tyze linked Charles’ osteopath and the neighbor lady who helped with his housekeeping. In his first note on Tyze, the osteopath reported that although Charles was eating well, he had recently spent a whole day in bed, and he seemed to be feeling a bit lonely. Even the housekeeper posted on Tyze and she was able to fill in other details, making John and his sisters aware that Charles had been prepping for their weekly phone calls by getting the morning newspaper to check the date, and writing down what he wanted to say in his diary.