Bridging the "digital divide"
Silver-haired people "touch the net" are also addicted to expert advice, mobile apps should be "suitable for the old"
[Reality Challenge] 96 million silver-haired people are active online, but some people rely too much on smartphones and social platforms, which affects their health and normal life
[Response strategy] The elderly should control themselves, and their family and friends should accompany them; government departments urge mobile apps to adapt to aging, and social institutions provide course guidance
In the past, children were addicted to the world of digital products and the Internet, which puzzled and even reprimanded the elderly parents.
Nowadays, "new old" friends are the same. They use smart devices, and many people are also obsessed with short videos.
In the information age, how can we help middle-aged and elderly friends to establish the correct concept of "touching the Internet"?
Treating social network platforms such as short videos rationally has become an important social issue.
The old man can't stop using the Internet
News and cases around you abound
Chatting on WeChat, playing games, watching short videos, swiping Moments to like and leave messages...More and more elderly people like smartphones, and they are "touching the Internet" on a large scale.
But middle-aged and elderly friends rely too much on smartphones and social networking platforms, which brings some negative effects to their families and themselves.
My neighbor, Mrs. Xu, learned to make an electronic photo album. She took pictures of her relatives and sent them to each other via WeChat.
However, good things turned into bad things, and relatives complained. The reason is that the old people put the relatives and the deceased family members in the same photo album, and it is inevitable that some people will taboo.
In addition, Mrs. Xu was obsessed with reading Moments. She didn't go to bed at three or four in the morning. She also walked and brushed while wearing reading glasses on weekdays, which not only caused shoulder diseases, but also had safety risks, but she still refused to listen to persuasion and refused to put down her mobile phone.
According to media reports, Mr. Wang from Nanjing felt deeply regretted after teaching his father with leg inconvenience to play cards online.
It turned out that his father often played cards for a day, and sometimes he didn't eat any more.
Mr. Wang can't say more, the old man is unhappy if he says too much.
Mobile games are not only popular among young people. Aunt Zhang from Shaoxing also enjoys them.
After retiring, Aunt Zhang was bored, and she learned mobile games with her daughter: forming an army, leading soldiers to defend their homes and defending the country... It takes hours to play and can't stop.
In addition, Love Elimination and Fighting Landlords are also her favorites. They are more addicted than young people and often do not sleep at 12 o'clock in the evening.
Family members advised her to treat her health badly, but she was still anxious.
Magical laughter, passionate background music...short video brainwashing symbols are gradually devouring the daily lives of the elderly.
As the phenomenon of older people’s “access to the Internet” intensifies, how to prevent them from indulging in the Internet has become an important issue for the entire society.
96 million silver-haired netizens are active
Some "old netizens" are online for more than 10 hours a day
As in the above news, such elderly people who are overly addicted to social networking platforms are not a minority in Chinese society.
As of March 2020, China has 940 million Internet users, of which 10.3% are elderly Internet users over 60 years old, and about 96 million silver-haired people are active on China's mobile Internet.
The average daily use of the Internet for people over 60 years old in my country is as high as 64.8 minutes.
The "2020 Internet Life Report for the Elderly" disclosed for the first time the behavioral preferences of the elderly over 60 on the Internet.
The report shows that 0.19% of the elderly spend more than 10 hours a day online on an information app, and there may be more than 100,000 elderly people across the country showing an extremely lonely life, indulging in the mobile Internet on the mobile phone all day long.
Statistics show that some elderly people rely heavily on the Internet, and they spend all their time on the mobile Internet every day except for their basic lives.
The degree to which the elderly rely on mobile phones so severely is related to being unattended in real life, susceptible to loneliness, and lack of realistic sustenance.
Medical Experts Weapon
Anti-addiction also needs "old age mode"
Zheng Kunmu, director of the Department of Neurology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, believes that the emergence of smart phones and social networking platforms has brought convenience to people to receive fresh information.
On the one hand, in the digital age, some elderly people do not know how to use smart phones and various application software, which causes inconvenience in life and travel.
But on the other hand, the elderly who have successfully crossed the "digital divide" are addicted to it and spend time and energy on it.
"Middle-aged and elderly friends are prone to two extremes-either resist or indulge." Old people indulge in the online world, and the decline of their brain structure and function is the main reason for their cognitive decline.
The ability of the elderly to control emotions weakens with the weakening of the cerebral cortex, which is similar to the situation of the children's cerebral cortex.
As middle-aged and elderly friends grow older, some people will experience brain atrophy, which affects the function of the cerebral cortex.
How to let the addicted elderly get rid of the virtual world?
Zheng Kunmu believes that it should be divided into three main considerations.
First of all, from the perspective of senior citizens, communicating with others through mobile social software can help reduce loneliness.
But relying too much on mobile phones is just addictive, which is bad for physical and mental health.
He proposed that the elderly should integrate more into the community and interact with their neighbors, resolve loneliness through chatting and walking, etc., instead of letting themselves become "puppets" of mobile phones.
Second, from the perspective of family members related to the elderly.
Filial piety and respect for the elderly are traditional virtues of the Chinese nation. Families should not only care about the food, clothing, shelter, and transportation of the elderly, but also their happiness and sense of acquisition.
Since young people can help old people become the masters of digital life, they should also do their best to help them correctly "connect to the Internet". This is true filial piety.
Kungfu is not only online, but also offline.
Children and family members should spend more time and attention to meet the needs of the elderly for communication and companionship.
Finally, the most critical thing is to strengthen the construction of old-age care for the whole society.
Zheng Kunmu suggested that the Internet platform might as well launch the "middle-aged and elderly model" as the "youth model", just as Tencent's game anti-addiction system also covers the elderly over 60 years old.
Related mobile phone software should be adjusted in terms of use time, eye health, video content, etc. to protect middle-aged and elderly people and achieve the purpose of preventing addiction.
Adding anti-addiction factors to the system algorithm will help create a clearer and safer cyberspace for the elderly.
Not only the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other relevant government departments should urge mobile apps to adapt to aging. Social institutions such as senior colleges and communities should set up courses on the use of smart phones to actively help educate and guide the elderly, treat mobile phones and the Internet rationally, and prevent them from being out of touch with reality. Addicted to Internet.
In fact, the "intoxicated and knowing no return" of the elderly facing the Internet world today is also a dilemma that young people will face in the future.
After entering the aging society, the "prevention of addiction" for the elderly is a topic that the entire society needs to face together, and the "Internet addiction elderly" should be squarely addressed by the entire society.
Only by better escorting middle-aged and elderly friends to "ride the wind and waves" in the Internet world can Chinese society reap a more beautiful "sunset red".
Text/Wang Min