I just spent a week with my family, including my retirement-age parents, my sisters who are millennials and gen z, and my nephew who is gen alpha. Nephew and parents were almost matched in terms of screen time. My sisters and I definitely looked at our phones a bit, but I was kinda shocked at how much my parents just sit and scroll.
Yep visiting my older relatives is always a surprise because they will often have an iPad in their lap playing a game or watching YouTube and then also have the TV on at very high volume. It's so over-stimulating and I'm not exactly avoiding screens myself.
When my parents visit, they literally crash my router. It took me two years to figure out what was happening. They spend $100s on flights and lodging and then sit on my couch and watch their ipads. They do invite the grandchildren to sit next to them… quality time.
It's impossible to do anything with my mom (mid 60s) without her pulling out TikTok or some Brick Breaker knock off. She's about the same as the 6-year-old nephew my brother has raised in front of an iPad. She works in IT, she looks at screens all day and still just wants to scroll aimlessly
With every new article/book/doc about kids and phones, I’ve been increasingly wondering, “are adults doing any better? Can we get a comparative analysis?” After reading through this, I have an even deeper gratitude for the seniors in my life who are very active and would rather play cards with friends or work on a puzzle with normal tv playing as background noise. I wonder if anything could be done legally to protect the elderly, if we ever have a government that isn’t actively profiting off these scams.
Honestly the elderly are worse off. My folks and my older relatives have zero media literacy. They grew up in an era of high trust print media. They will believe almost anything you put in front of them and they have no ability to detect AI content.
My MIL is pretty bad about scrolling any time there's down time but she does have a fairly active social life with her friends so at least that limits it. But it keeps her up real late at night and that definitely impacts her health and mental function. And we definitely have to fact check anything she sends us because god only knows where it's from.
My mom has never really gotten into the videos other than watching cake decorating or crafting stuff and she is out playing bridge like five afternoons a week. My dad can't sit still long enough to watch a tiktok even if he managed to figure out how it worked. And yet I still have to be vigilant that they don't fall for scams because they've come close twice that I know of. It's just so pervasive right now on all fronts and the social media apps have put it into overdrive.
Since retirement I found myself reading news and REDDIT on my phone way too much. I’m a blue bleeding liberal so it’s not Fox News but if I’m not careful I can get caught up in reading which national monument Trump if defiling this week.
You m scheduling myself into art and exercise classes and friends meetups when I really want to stay home on phone and veg after working very hard for 45 years.
I think you get a little more tired every year and less responsibility and you have to force yourself to engage.
In the very early days of the web my mom thought it would be nice to show her mother, who was about 75 at the time, how it worked. It took my grandmother about 30 seconds to nope the fuck out of there. I can't even imagine what she would think about what it's turned into now.
Whenever I go to visit my 70-year-old parents, my dad literally sits in front of the TV on his iPad. Sound looped through his hearing aids. And just two screens for hours. My mom is better, but constantly checking her phone.
But if my sister or I start looking at our phones, my mom immediately goes “You don’t want to talk and would rather be on a screen!”
The opening paragraph is what I have to do with my 82 year old aunt, except with Youtube. Every so often I will go over to her house and hit not interested on a bunch of stuff. She falls for all the AI celebrity stuff (I remember once she called my mom saying that Oprah died) and those AI vertical dramas. I had to subscribe her to game show channels and like old TV clips.
My mother in law is perpetually on facebook. Shes very intelligent, liberal minded politically and has real friends in real life but she’ll stay in her room and post, comment and like things on Facebook instead of interact with her grandchildren. When she does, she tries to show them content on her phone. We’ve had to discuss this with her as she’s showed them ai videos that aren’t human appropriate. The best way to describe it is addiction. There’s no conversation about scaling it back, she does it instead of interact and her mind is warped from random stranger influence from everything to diet to finances.
I asked her once about her ritual of eating food in a certain order and she said, “ I saw it on Facebook”. I played along and said that’s interesting and asked if it was from a nutritionist or friend or doctor. She said it was just a guy and didn’t know anything about him but she swears by it and will bring it up every chance she gets. This is just a small example of how it goes over there. It’s wild because she was a stranger danger helicopter type of parent when her kids were young.
My partner and I are elder millennials and the last trip we took with Boomer parents it was shocking how much they were on their phones. Driving through gorgeous wildflower blooms, almost the entirety of the time we stayed ocean-side and in a rental in the forrest in beautiful weather, they sat in the car or house staring at screens.
My educated inlaws scroll and are addicted. My mom who struggled with digital literacy and still goes to a bank to pay the bills isn't. Her ignorance is now actually a blessing as she goes out and socialises.
I asked her about her friends that do use smartphones in the usual addictive matter and she didn't understand. Like a little child, she doesn't understand what this is about. She thinks people are just busy.
Including the young, sick, mentally impaired - almost half of the population is prone to screen addiction and vulnerable by physicality of our brain! While platforms insist on full mental conscious use, if states would try to keep them safe - the majority of engagement model would disappear. The young, the old and those who can't better make, most probably, the large majority of hours for the platforms. When will we start speaking about man hours?
My dad just came to visit his first grandson. Grabbed the baby, took a picture for Facebook, gave him back and scrolled on his phone. Repeat for the next 5 days.
I asked him what the point of flying across the country to do what he does at home? It really is those damn phones.
petitbleu | 4 hours ago
I just spent a week with my family, including my retirement-age parents, my sisters who are millennials and gen z, and my nephew who is gen alpha. Nephew and parents were almost matched in terms of screen time. My sisters and I definitely looked at our phones a bit, but I was kinda shocked at how much my parents just sit and scroll.
CactusBoyScout | 2 hours ago
Yep visiting my older relatives is always a surprise because they will often have an iPad in their lap playing a game or watching YouTube and then also have the TV on at very high volume. It's so over-stimulating and I'm not exactly avoiding screens myself.
GingerBrrd | 3 hours ago
When my parents visit, they literally crash my router. It took me two years to figure out what was happening. They spend $100s on flights and lodging and then sit on my couch and watch their ipads. They do invite the grandchildren to sit next to them… quality time.
big-bootyjewdy | 2 hours ago
It's impossible to do anything with my mom (mid 60s) without her pulling out TikTok or some Brick Breaker knock off. She's about the same as the 6-year-old nephew my brother has raised in front of an iPad. She works in IT, she looks at screens all day and still just wants to scroll aimlessly
readingwritingreefer | 4 hours ago
With every new article/book/doc about kids and phones, I’ve been increasingly wondering, “are adults doing any better? Can we get a comparative analysis?” After reading through this, I have an even deeper gratitude for the seniors in my life who are very active and would rather play cards with friends or work on a puzzle with normal tv playing as background noise. I wonder if anything could be done legally to protect the elderly, if we ever have a government that isn’t actively profiting off these scams.
ReverendDizzle | 4 hours ago
Honestly the elderly are worse off. My folks and my older relatives have zero media literacy. They grew up in an era of high trust print media. They will believe almost anything you put in front of them and they have no ability to detect AI content.
carolina822 | 3 hours ago
My MIL is pretty bad about scrolling any time there's down time but she does have a fairly active social life with her friends so at least that limits it. But it keeps her up real late at night and that definitely impacts her health and mental function. And we definitely have to fact check anything she sends us because god only knows where it's from.
My mom has never really gotten into the videos other than watching cake decorating or crafting stuff and she is out playing bridge like five afternoons a week. My dad can't sit still long enough to watch a tiktok even if he managed to figure out how it worked. And yet I still have to be vigilant that they don't fall for scams because they've come close twice that I know of. It's just so pervasive right now on all fronts and the social media apps have put it into overdrive.
fungibitch | 3 hours ago
Exactly. Whenever one notices a concerning trend among children, LOOK AT THE ADULTS AROUND THEM FIRST. Every single time.
readingwritingreefer | 4 hours ago
Also, these photos are SO unnerving.
softwaredoug | 4 hours ago
Plenty of 65+ year olds stay at home glued to Fox News complaining about how kids don't drink out of the firehose anymore
renijreddit | 55 minutes ago
Or know how to read cursive.
[OP] raphaellaskies | 5 hours ago
Archive link: https://archive.ph/LQ2Tx
Yesiamanaltruist | 3 hours ago
Thank you
PerformerMindless100 | 2 hours ago
Since retirement I found myself reading news and REDDIT on my phone way too much. I’m a blue bleeding liberal so it’s not Fox News but if I’m not careful I can get caught up in reading which national monument Trump if defiling this week.
You m scheduling myself into art and exercise classes and friends meetups when I really want to stay home on phone and veg after working very hard for 45 years.
I think you get a little more tired every year and less responsibility and you have to force yourself to engage.
carolina822 | 3 hours ago
In the very early days of the web my mom thought it would be nice to show her mother, who was about 75 at the time, how it worked. It took my grandmother about 30 seconds to nope the fuck out of there. I can't even imagine what she would think about what it's turned into now.
Looking back, I think she had the right idea.
JeaniusIsMe | 2 hours ago
Whenever I go to visit my 70-year-old parents, my dad literally sits in front of the TV on his iPad. Sound looped through his hearing aids. And just two screens for hours. My mom is better, but constantly checking her phone.
But if my sister or I start looking at our phones, my mom immediately goes “You don’t want to talk and would rather be on a screen!”
wugthepug | 3 hours ago
The opening paragraph is what I have to do with my 82 year old aunt, except with Youtube. Every so often I will go over to her house and hit not interested on a bunch of stuff. She falls for all the AI celebrity stuff (I remember once she called my mom saying that Oprah died) and those AI vertical dramas. I had to subscribe her to game show channels and like old TV clips.
full_bl33d | an hour ago
My mother in law is perpetually on facebook. Shes very intelligent, liberal minded politically and has real friends in real life but she’ll stay in her room and post, comment and like things on Facebook instead of interact with her grandchildren. When she does, she tries to show them content on her phone. We’ve had to discuss this with her as she’s showed them ai videos that aren’t human appropriate. The best way to describe it is addiction. There’s no conversation about scaling it back, she does it instead of interact and her mind is warped from random stranger influence from everything to diet to finances.
I asked her once about her ritual of eating food in a certain order and she said, “ I saw it on Facebook”. I played along and said that’s interesting and asked if it was from a nutritionist or friend or doctor. She said it was just a guy and didn’t know anything about him but she swears by it and will bring it up every chance she gets. This is just a small example of how it goes over there. It’s wild because she was a stranger danger helicopter type of parent when her kids were young.
pedestal_of_infamy | an hour ago
My partner and I are elder millennials and the last trip we took with Boomer parents it was shocking how much they were on their phones. Driving through gorgeous wildflower blooms, almost the entirety of the time we stayed ocean-side and in a rental in the forrest in beautiful weather, they sat in the car or house staring at screens.
WillingnessFinal1411 | an hour ago
My educated inlaws scroll and are addicted. My mom who struggled with digital literacy and still goes to a bank to pay the bills isn't. Her ignorance is now actually a blessing as she goes out and socialises.
I asked her about her friends that do use smartphones in the usual addictive matter and she didn't understand. Like a little child, she doesn't understand what this is about. She thinks people are just busy.
Including the young, sick, mentally impaired - almost half of the population is prone to screen addiction and vulnerable by physicality of our brain! While platforms insist on full mental conscious use, if states would try to keep them safe - the majority of engagement model would disappear. The young, the old and those who can't better make, most probably, the large majority of hours for the platforms. When will we start speaking about man hours?
snatchszn | 31 minutes ago
My dad just came to visit his first grandson. Grabbed the baby, took a picture for Facebook, gave him back and scrolled on his phone. Repeat for the next 5 days.
I asked him what the point of flying across the country to do what he does at home? It really is those damn phones.
Curious_Arm_7927 | 4 hours ago
From the title, I thought this was going to be about all the 30 yr olds they cast as teens in the 80s are turning 75 😂
fungibitch | 3 hours ago
Oh, I cannot WAIT to read this. Let's TALK ABOUT IT.
hbs_0510 | 47 minutes ago
THE ARTICLE’S HEADLINE IS SO GOOD
hbs_0510 | 49 minutes ago
omg yes they love facebook reels! facebook in general. tap tap tap
Kame2Komplain | 51 minutes ago
Pay walled