Have you ever had to show your parents how to use a smartphone?
Are you tired of them pronouncing WhatsApp as “What’s up” or “Wazzap”?
Or the worst, getting continous spam messages from them.
This woman made observations on a group of older people with smartphones and his findings will change your views.
It’s a steep learning curve. Everything is new and alien. Very little is instinctive. Past experience is often useless, often a hindrance.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015It’s not just about learning what button does what, but also learning to reconcile with the idea of a button itself.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015The whys are not very obvious even though the whats and hows are explained by the next generation.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015That the phone can be an ally in many ways is itself up for learning.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015Overall, using this piece of technology pretty much feels like getting thrown into the deep end with a strange device as life raft.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015So small things become accomplishments. Good morning messages, for example.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015Such rituals become comforting as well. And they serve as an incentive and a platform of validation.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015My aunt uses her meagre data connection to painstakingly search for and download dozens of good morning images every week.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015These she sends one at a time everyday to her alumni group on WhatsApp.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015She has not heard of memes. She does not consider that if she can find these images freely on the web, the recipients can as well.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015She does not consider it spam, for how can something that is chosen with intent and such care be spam?
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015The regularity of this greeting, not the greeting images themselves, is for her the message of affection that she is conveying.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015Her alumni group is made up of people like her in the sense of the internet being a novelty. Everyone is learning and eager to show it.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015They have their own standards and bars of achievement, some of which we would laugh at if we didn’t know the context.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015All the elders I met today agreed that for them, timing mattered in their online interactions.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015Releasing a video clip or image or joke or other message before the others was a huge achievement. They would compliment each other on that.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015So they ensured that if they received something impressive via one group, they’d circulate it in their other groups as soon as possible.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015“Everyone knows me as the joke guy,” boasted an old uncle. “And everyone in my groups appreciate my song links,” said an aunty, proud.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015There are reputations and expectations and an etiquette that emerges not from ours, but from their own dynamics.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015The smart phone interactions between our elders is a thriving ecosystem, with its own politics and compassions.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015Even though a lot of the education about this enabling technology came from their children, these explorers are still very much self-made.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015There are things your kids just cannot communicate to you, and things they just cannot understand about you. So our seniors help each other.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015There’s hurt when kids tell them they are using the internet wrongly, that they miss the point. The point is that our points are different.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015We younger folks have moved on from grappling with the actual hows and are now fighting or laughing at older people on the whats.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015“This alert was not sent by NASA,” we fume, frustrated. “How can you believe something so obviously fake, ma?”
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015Content is motivation for them, but their immediate challenges are feeling through all these complexities,
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015fitting into their WhatsApp communities, learning to keep up with the youngsters and discovering the potentials of this magical device.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015We know how to identify spam, respond to it, avoid it, discourage it. But remember (I do) when we ourselves first met the internet?
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015The incredible cognitive assault? That is our parents now, with more than double the age and less than half the exposure.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015Just a few takeaways:
1. Most elders using technology usually want to learn and want to use it effectively. Don’t doubt that intention. — udnan (@npueu) November 19, 20152. Don’t expect their digital worlds to follow the etiquette of the ones you are familiar with.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 20153. Be patient. Make learning easier for them. Help where your help is needed.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015(In many cases, the technology is so alien that it is tough for them to know what help they need. So, diagnose and offer clear, simple aid.)
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 20154. Don’t patronise/condescend. It’s two human beings helping each other with what they’re each familiar with that the other isn’t.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015Every time I get short with appa or amma, I remember the overall impression of my entire childhood,
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015which was of patient, affectionate care and guidance from my parents to my complete arrogance in and absolute ineptness at life. :’)
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 20155. There’s no need to put up with factually incorrect posts and misguiding information. Or general spam.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015Just help them see why it can be harmful and how they can ascertain veracity before they forward information. Empowerment works.
— udnan (@npueu) November 19, 2015