Short video "True Fragrance", "Upper" with gold coins, "Addictive" online novels...more than half of middle-aged and elderly people spend more than 4 hours on the Internet every day
Why are more and more "silver-haired people" addicted to "swiping their phones"?
Our reporter Song Rui and Ren Liying
"The first thing you do when you wake up is to touch the phone next to your pillow." "It's more uncomfortable not to play with your phone than to eat a small meal." "Always wait for the dark light and hide in the bed to scan videos and read novels." Redeem small gifts"...These labels that were once affixed to "Internet addicted teenagers" have now become a true portrayal of many "silver-haired people".
The seventh national census showed that my country’s population of 60 years and over exceeds 260 million, and the aging of the population has further deepened.
Accompanied by this is the accelerated penetration of smart phones and the Internet, and more and more elderly people "touch the Internet" and become trapped in them and become "silver-haired people with bowed heads."
"Silver-haired bow-heads" surge
The 48th "Statistical Report on China's Internet Development Status" released by the China Internet Network Information Center shows that as of June 2021, the number of Internet users in my country has reached 1.011 billion, of which Internet users over 60 accounted for 12.2%, and about 120 million people.
The proportion of "silver-haired bow-heads" continues to rise.
Over-reliance on self-media and online groups, turning mobile phones day and night, and "not thinking about tea and rice" has become the daily life of many elderly people.
The 2021 Research Report on Internet Access Behavior of Middle-aged and Elderly Groups released by iiMedia Research Institute shows that 51% of middle-aged and elderly people spend more than 4 hours online every day.
Han Guimei, 64, has lived in Longfugong Nursing Home in Xiqing District, Tianjin City for 8 years due to paralysis of her lower limbs. She changed her third smartphone on Women’s Day this year.
"Wake up in the morning and touch the phone first. When I wake up in the middle of the night, I can only fall asleep after playing with the phone. When I don't look at the phone, I feel flustered." Han Guimei said, she spends five or six hours a day on her phone.
Social software, shopping software, payment software... The Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter saw that the apps that are common in young people's mobile phones are all available in Han Guimei's mobile phones.
"I can't live without my mobile phone. I will share the three meals a day in the nursing home and the activities I participate in with my daughter on WeChat. We also make video calls every day to let the children know that I am doing well in the nursing home. "
Han Guimei opened a shopping software while talking.
"Look, this is the new schoolbag I just bought for my grandson a few days ago. I can do anything with my phone!"
Recently, Han Guimei's "New Favorite" is a reading software, and the variety of novels has opened the door to a "new world" for her.
"I'm addicted like chasing a TV series. I always want to know the follow-up development of the protagonist. I'm tired of reading slowly. I want to pick it up and read it after a while." Han Guimei said, with a smartphone, she is not willing to sleep at night.
"I was short of sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night and looked under the covers for another half an hour. My eyes were sleepy and I could fall asleep with my phone."
Like Han Guimei, many elderly people take reading online novels as a pastime, and find spiritual sustenance from them, "It feels like a day passes quickly."
Yang Enping, who lives in Xiqing District, Tianjin, is 76 years old. She was only “on the Internet” during the epidemic and was quickly attracted by the curious and interesting short videos.
According to Yang Enping’s wife, she can look at her mobile phone for 6 to 8 hours a day on average. Sometimes she can see two or three o’clock in the morning. “It’s common to stay in bed until 10 o’clock the next day. If you don’t eat breakfast, you don’t want to make lunch. , It’s no different from today’s internet addicted teenagers."
In addition, many elderly people almost cause disasters due to their addiction to the Internet.
"Sometimes when I'm cooking, I don't care when I look at the phone and forget about the pot." 63-year-old Li Lanxi said.
The reporter's investigation found that many elderly people regularly "check in" certain apps every day, "plant trees", "cut a knife", "swipe videos" and other methods to "collect gold coins" and exchange money.
Li Huabao, a 70-year-old Tianjin citizen, collects gold coins every day through reading information apps, while 71-year-old Zhang Ailan uses videos to "point small profits".
Every time I can get a few points, sometimes I have a dime or two. After a certain amount of gold coins can be withdrawn, they can earn more than ten yuan in a month, all of which are withdrawn to the WeChat wallet.
Li Ruhu, Party Branch Secretary of the Neighborhood Committee of Songfeng Dongli Community, Hedong District, Tianjin, said that there are more than 1,800 permanent residents in the community over the age of 60, accounting for 1/3 of the entire community.
During the epidemic, due to the need to use health codes, many elderly people switched to smartphones. They were in the curious stage of smartphones and wanted to "try new things" for various new functions.
For example, some elderly people have heard that it is cheap to buy certain items online, and they often ask community workers for help.
In November 2020, the "2020 Elderly Internet Life Report" released by the mobile content platform Qutoutiao and Peng Mei News showed that middle-aged and elderly people are more sensitive and preferential to online interaction incentives than young people.
People over 60 years old receive 2732 gold coins from a certain app every day, while users aged 20-40 have a weaker reaction to gold coins, and only receive 2023 coins.
Many elderly people say that in order to "see small profits", watching advertisements is more than watching content, which takes up a lot of time and energy.
Uncle Zhang from Luquan District, Shijiazhuang usually loves calligraphy. He was attracted by a short video that could help promote calligraphy by using his mobile phone. He was about to send 10,000 yuan to the other party. Only with the help of the police, he found out that he was fooled.
"Internet addiction elderly" generally have "three senses"
Why are there more and more "Internet addiction elderly"?
The reporter learned that they generally have a sense of "loneliness" and "a sense of disconnection," and they are keen to seek a virtual "sense of belonging" on the Internet.
Lack of companionship and care, the more and more "loneliness" is brushed.
Yuan Xin, a professor at the Institute of Population and Development of Nankai University, said that the social demographic structure has gradually changed, and the characteristics of family size miniaturization, family alienation, and family members' discretization have become more prominent. Happened early.
In order to take care of the next generation, some elderly people moved with their children to unfamiliar metropolises, leaving the familiar living environment, and feeling more lonely in their hearts.
Objectively speaking, there are fewer opportunities for the elderly to communicate face-to-face with the society and their children. “Mobile phones have built a virtual living space for the elderly to express themselves, express their emotions, and alleviate the lack of spirit. The'silver-haired people' unknowingly Formed a dependence on mobile phones." Yuan Xin said.
The "2020 Elderly Internet Life Report" shows that some elderly groups are "extremely lonely" on the mobile phone network and live on the Internet almost all day long.
Yang Enping's granddaughter told reporters that grandma installed a wireless network at home to keep the children who left after eating, but the children stayed for a long time, spent more time on their mobile phones, and less face-to-face communication.
Han Guimei said that with a smart phone, “online contact with her daughter has become more frequent, but the number of times she visits herself in nursing homes has decreased.”
There are anxiety and uneasiness, and they are deeply caught in the "disconnected sense" of society.
Xu Bin, president of Shijiazhuang University for the Elderly, said that after retirement, the “silver-haired people” will change their social functions, and will experience varying degrees of marginalization and alienation, which will breed anxiety and anxiety.
In order to take care of their grandchildren, some elderly people leave their familiar environment and move to unfamiliar cities, and the feeling of "disconnected" in their hearts becomes even stronger.
Guan Xinping, a professor in the Department of Social Work and Social Policy of Nankai University, believes that in order to overcome the worries of being out of touch with society, the “silver-haired people” have a strong desire to keep up with the times and integrate into their children’s lives. Smartphones and virtual networks have become their re-socialization. , An important tool for maintaining emotions and socializing.
Data seems to be warmer than people, bringing a virtual "sense of belonging."
Fang Enliang, a teacher at the University for the Elderly in Xiqing District, Tianjin, said that some people lack plans for their elderly lives and are not interested in many things.
The mobile application makes personalized recommendations based on big data, and continuously pushes content that meets the interests of the elderly, bringing them a sense of warmth and presence.
Elderly people eager to "early taste" in mobile phones will "coexist" with mobile phones, embedding their daily lives into virtual cyberspace.
Li Hejun, a 67-year-old Tianjin citizen, is a music lover who often shares his life through short video platforms.
"I have thousands of likes and comments on the works I published on the short video platform. I am under a lot of pressure to respond to everyone's love. I am worried about disappointing those who love me. But in the long run, I will pay for it. Time and energy are huge."
Some elderly self-media creators generally say that the emptiness and disconnection of real life can be filled in the Internet, and network groups and self-media platforms have become important places in life.
Capital boosts "head down"
As my country’s population aging further deepens, there is still a large gap in the supply of offline high-quality entertainment services to meet the “silver-haired people”, and the “Internet + elderly economy” rich in content is gradually becoming a “sunrise industry”, attracting capital Competing for layout has further attracted the "silver-haired people" to be trapped in the "network vortex".
Online drug purchases, takeaways, online shopping... More and more elderly people are beginning to try new shopping methods under the influence of the mobile Internet, and various new forms of "silver economy" continue to be born.
The Consumer Report "When Gen Z Meets the Silver-haired Clan" released by the Jingdong Big Data Research Institute shows that affected by the epidemic in 2020, the frequency of online shopping among "silver-haired clan" users has increased, and online shopping habits have gradually formed.
While the elderly “touching the Internet” injects new consumption power into the market, they also accelerate the attraction of capital hunting, continue to launch various lifestyle apps or small programs, and further use big data “portraits” to dig deeper into the habits of “silver-haired users” , Features, accurately push their favorite information, transform "old users", and create "new traffic".
According to the "2021 China Silver and Hair Economic Industry Survey Report" released by iiMedia, the market size of my country's "silver economy" will grow to 5.9 trillion yuan this year.
Due to the relative lack of online protection mechanisms for the elderly, it is easy for this group to "bow their heads" and "raise their heads" difficult.
At present, there are some chaos in Internet content related to the elderly. Many "silver-haired people" have a short Internet age and lack the ability to screen and identify effective information. They are easily trapped in network information constructed by false information such as "Title Party", "Health Care Party" and other false information. In turn, they are induced to recharge, purchase wealth management products, and health care products, which makes it difficult to protect rights on the Internet.
Zhang Yuan, a citizen of Shijiazhuang, said that her mother is currently addicted to health-care articles on the Internet.
The elderly have nodules in their lungs and should go to the hospital for examination and treatment. However, the mother is very stubborn and only follows the so-called "diet therapy" on health posts on the Internet.
Liang Shengnan, a teacher at the Xiqing Branch of Tianjin Radio and Television University (Xiqing Open University), said that few mobile apps implement the Internet anti-addiction mechanism for the elderly, such as setting up viewing reminders and closing functions for the elderly, prompting them to screen out false information, and reasonably guide them to pay attention Physical and mental health, etc.
(Some interviewees have pseudonyms)
(Participate in the collection and writing: Feng Chunyu, Peng Yudan)