Ms van Uden was a guest at the association's 45th anniversary celebration, attended by about 50 members and supporters, in their rooms in Memorial St on Wednesday.
The mayor said in her speech spending lots of time with peers was one of the great attractions of the association.
While young people could communicate around the world in seconds, they did so from the anonymous hideaway of computers and hand-held devices, she said.
''And in turn they're losing the ability to socialise, to interact, to share time, to learn from each other - just to be among people, face-to-face.''
Ms van Uden said she wondered if a ''Junior Citizens Association'' should be set up to invite them in and teach them how to have a chat.
''I reckon they're so nervous about talking to people you could turn conversation into Queenstown's latest and most terrifying extreme activity,'' Ms van Uden said.
