There is actually an international NGO, Little Brothers - Friends of the Elderly [0], that exists exactly to help lonely elderly people meet others and have a new social life. There are several chapters in the USA [1].
While not very well known, it's a really old NGO, started in 1946 in Switzerland, with the US wing existing since 1959.
Absolutely. I worked very briefly and regrettably as a cold-call telemarketer and the vast majority of the people who would stay on the line were elderly and seemed to enjoy talking to a friendly person who wanted to sell them fake supplements. I still feel bad about the one sale I made.
He certainly sounded like he was sound of mind, but even I didn't know what I was selling. We already had their credit card info on file, so we were taught all we needed was a "yes" from the customer, and after a while of chatting I think he wanted to be nice and gave me the "yes". I just hope he could afford it.
> I wonder if there's a service where you can sign-up to be randomly connected to other elderly people.
It's not specific to elderly people but back when I used Dialup[0] many of my matches were elderly folk who just enjoyed talking to someone about what's going on in their life and telling stories about their youth.
Loneliness is a major issue for the elderly and due to culture of the time, there's a lot of resistance to do something about it.
I wonder if there's a service where you can sign-up to be randomly connected to other elderly people. Omegle for the elderly.