Personal Essay First Draft 8/31

 Me, my mother, my father, my brother, my uncle, and grandparents were huddled around the Christmas tree in a festive mood. I had just finished unwrapping a soccer ball and looked eagerly at the shiny wrappers to see whose turn it was next. I will not forget when my Grandma, who knew nothing about technology, unwrapped her present, an iPad Mini. She, who barely knew anything about technology, looked in awe as she stuttered out the mispronunciation “pud-min-EE.” She struggled with it at first, but as she has learned how to use it, she has become more connected; talking with her friends, keeping up with the news, and FaceTiming or Skyping my mother every night to inquire what is happening in her life. While I don’t advertise for every 80-year-old to be active on Instagram, I think this anecdote speaks not only to how technology can benefit older people, but how a willingness to change and a readiness to adapt and move forward can improve their lives in more ways than they can imagine.

My paternal grandfather is often critical of younger generations, ranting against their practices and displaying an insistence that things return to the old ways. While not all old people hold these opinions, he’s most definitely not the only one to hold this mindset. The often derided “back in my day” mindset has been almost endlessly joked about. Most remember the internet being riddled with repetitive “OK Boomer” jokes if they ever used the internet in 2019. While the memes got stale quickly, they brought to light many valid concerns that younger generations hold about elderly people. Many have been accused of clinging onto the past and ultimately causing harm through their stagnant views on evolving issues that dominate the modern social landscape.

Through relatives and 50 year old+ family friends, I have often heard conversations deriding the use of social media among millennials and Gen Z’ers. Specifically, I have heard criticisms of how younger generations are over reliant on their phones, reluctant to interact with their friends in person, and hyperactive with their social media usage and posts. However, social media should be viewed as a tool to strengthen in-person interaction.  Instead of viewing their generation as inherently different to the youth, they should see themselves in the youth and realize how similar they are. Many of the fondest memories and possessions of these elders are old mirrors of the same technology dominating our modern era that they ridicule. When I visit my grandparents and relatives, they are quick to bring out their photo albums, diaries, and yearbooks to relive their past experiences. Social media is simply a way for younger generations to form these same connections. Pictures last forever and tell stories. Young people who use social media and text their friends don’t have some cynical desire for clout, but instead want to form these same everlasting memories that generations before them treasure.