As I was preparing to push the button on the self-help machine at the local post office, I heard a voice over my shoulder. “Do you need some help with that?” came an impatient, young female voice. I turned to see the face associated with the voice, as the at-the-most twenty-year-old lady spoke again. “Do you know how to do that?”
At first, I wanted to reply, “Well, since I’ve been working on computers since before you were born, and this stamp machine is nothing more than a dumbed-down computer, I’m pretty sure that I can figure it out.” Instead, I just smiled, and said, “No, it’s OK, I’ve done this before.” It seems that the young whippersnapper behind me had simply assumed that the old geezer in front of her couldn’t possibly know how to use such a modern, high-tech piece of complicated machinery.
Even though I’m 51 years old, I’m still not sure if I truly qualify as a “senior” citizen. When I see my Dad, I certainly don’t feel very “senior.” Still, I was a bit surprised to see some of the statistics regarding computers and the “elder” generation. Interestingly enough, studies listed at www.seniorjournal.com show that almost half of North American seniors (with “seniority” beginning, to my delight, at age 58) are using the Internet, and that 46% of those 50 and older have been using the Internet for over five years. Furthermore, seniors age 65 and older are the fastest growing age group online.
Internet activities engaged in by elders include all that you might expect, such as email, research, stock investing and buying and selling online. I was surprised again to see that 13% of online seniors use the Internet to access chat rooms, and that 35% use the Internet to play games. It also seems that seniors are among the favorite targets of Internet scammers, as most of the wealth of the world is in the hands of those over 50, along with the best credit ratings. Scams aimed at seniors often involve health insurance, counterfeit prescription drugs, funerals, cemeteries, bogus investments and “anti-aging” products.
The FBI reports that seniors can also be easy marks because “individuals who grew up in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s were generally raised to be polite and trusting. Two very important and positive personality traits, except when it comes to dealing with a con-man.” Polite seniors have a harder time sternly saying “no,” or abruptly hanging up the phone.
In spite of significant savvy Internet activity by the elder generation, there’s still a large percentage of seniors that have 12:00 flashing on their VCRs, click on bogus popup ads and respond to phishing emails. Then again, when you consider that most of the younger generation can’t balance a checkbook, tell you who was President during World War II or find Iraq on a world map, I figure that sort of balances things out.