endlessly curious
In: technology
25 Jan 2009I was chatting with my friend L the other night on the way to a movie. I was telling her about how I was starting another blog for my more “professional” side and how C is still weird about this thing many of us use on a daily basis, called the Internet.
C is six years older than me and in his early 30’s. He remembers never having a computer (he never “had” one until we moved in together 5 years ago). I barely remember not being able to chat online using AOL. Granted, I was 14 when AOL became very popular, but that’s about the time you really start communicating by yourself with others in your school without having mom or dad give you the phone number.
Don’t get me wrong, I know many in their 30’s and up are very computer savvy, and I don’t know if there is a solid line where the technology gap exists, but there is a gap. My friends, both my age, are dating or married to a man 20+ years their senior. Their significant others don’t understand myspace, facebook and blogging. C doesn’t understand the popularity of it either. He also thinks that my webcam is for making web porn still, you know what people thought those were for back in the 90’s. (He may or may not have been kidding, I’m still not sure) He is also paranoid about my picture being on the vast Internet. If he only really understood that making profiles, including pictures and biography are the way this generation and those after us, network.
So instead of fighting over something he doesn’t understand or maybe just taking the easy way out, I just don’t tell him the extent of presence online (my friends also skirt the issue of what they put online with their significant others). I know that if he got online regularly or even checked him email regularly I would help him get himself out on the Internet, but until that time comes I think I’ll just keep it underwraps.
3 Responses to the technology age gap
straw000
January 25th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Hello!! : ) I just made a new tech blog that is updated several times a day with tech tips and reviews and I hope you can comment or add this blog to your blogroll!! Comment back if you add me to your blogroll so that I can add you too!! Please visit my blog link below!! Thanks a lot!!
http://allthatsnew.wordpress.com/
Lily
January 26th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
I know exactly what you mean. Age doesn’t have as much to do with it as I know both 20somethings that came of age in the Internet and Social Media boom as well as 30somethings that didn’t. I know folks in both age groups that do and don’t get/love Twitter, that do/don’t understand the value of personal blogs and social networking groups, and so forth. Good luck with this project! I’ll keep checking you out
Paula
January 26th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
There’s a lot of people my own age, and many other ages (younger AND older) who are very active on social networking sites yet don’t “GET” blogging. I don’t quite understand why doing it THEIR way makes it any different from what I do. It just proves that no matter what age you are, there are still going to be differences.