Page 35 - Seniorstoday January 2024 Issue
P. 35
Boost learning opportunities be bombarded with various forms of
Gone are the days of the tired stereotype entertainment, from stand-up comedy and
that the old and wise are considered “out of viral videos to contests and meme pages.
touch”. Learning is a lifelong process, and Stay current and feel in the know
social media opens opportunities galore. Alongside entertainment, social media
You can join Facebook groups that align emerges as a vast sea of knowledge if used
with your interests, such as Senior Planet, the right way. It’s no surprise then that
Fab After Fifty, and My Itchy Travel Feet. close to 64.5 percent of the population
Social platforms have also become the hot receive breaking news from Facebook, X (
spot for researching topics and seeking formerly Twitter), YouTube, Snapchat, and
answers through detailed online channels. Instagram over traditional media.
Reddit, for example, is a social media While there’s no denying the timeless
forum website known for its sense charm of reading the newspaper with a
of humor and niche communities cup in hand, news sites have leveraged
(subreddits). You can dive into intense the opportunity to capture the reader’s
discussions and learn about a plethora of attention mid-scrolling. The youngsters
subjects through the real-life experiences latch onto their phones at the strike of
of others. dawn and within minutes are notified of
Depending on the group or channel you the political/social/entertainment scene
join, you can access numerous online halfway across the globe.
courses ranging from pottery and virtual With seniors jumping on the bandwagon,
fitness classes to basic computer skills and they, too, stay well-informed, holding their
modern script calligraphy. It’s all there, own in a conversation or perhaps even
ready for the taking. a heated debate. That said, integrating
news into social media has unfortunately
A medium for entertainment beckoned the era of “fake news”.
In the wise words of motivational Misinformation channels on platforms
coach Tony Robbins, “We aren’t like YouTube compete with hard facts,
in an information age, we are in an making authentic content hard to come by.
entertainment age.” Translation? We’re all Before you know it, older adults become
craving a good time, and thanks to social easy targets, given their comparatively
media, there is no dearth of enthralling lower digital literacy.
escapes. Grab your phone, tap that But that’s not to say it’s all doom and
itty-bitty social media icon and boom! gloom hereafter. With some basic research,
(*cue dramatic voice*) Welcome to the you can follow genuine and unbiased news
entertainment extravaganza! channels so that only these are displayed
A platform like YouTube stores classic on your newsfeed.
movies, music videos, and television
shows from yesteryear, while Facebook, Building an online business
Instagram, LinkedIn, and Reddit Just the other day, my grandfather ordered
seamlessly direct you to blog posts and a massive wooden bookshelf he’d seen
gaming sites. When you migrate to in an ad on one of his Senior buddies’
one or many of these mediums, you’ll Facebook groups. To say that I was
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #55 | JANUARY 2024 35
