An observation of Digital Media addiction of the elderly in a middle-class household.
So, the country turned to a 21-day lock-down on 24th March owing to Coronavirus or covid-19. It was much anticipated and was just a matter of declaration by the prime minister, for the country was entering Phase 2 of the spread of this non-curable disease. It was a painstaking move for the government as well as the economy as it would have negative effects on the growing & somehow unstable finances that we are sitting on.
However, necessary as it was, it was more of a smokescreen. Don't get me wrong, it was the need of the hour and the best way to steer chaos. But, a one-time announcement would've done the trick as much as addressing the nation time & again. Nevertheless, that's my take. What got me thinking in this prolonged stay-at-home period, stretched for another 3 weeks is the consumption of Digital Media in the country.
I have been working as a content creator for quite some time now. Hence, most of my work has been from home, where I find my perfect spot and try to make sense of the subject I am working on. My parents belong to a generation where learning and adapting newer things is an everyday adventure. From trying their hands on a smartphone to knowing the nitty-gritty of social media, their innocent and inquisitive questions leave me stunned.
However, I noticed a rather peculiar pattern in my household. I saw my parents turning to social media, and OTT platforms for entertainment. While the not-so-techie me was amazed to see their new friends, I started observing them regularly, day-after-day. It was beguiling to see how, slowly they were turning into a digital media addict. On reading upon social media addiction in the elderly across India, I found out some statistics that supported my theory. Again, I would like to elucidate that I understand social media addiction can be or rather is considered as an emerging threat to the psychological condition of the 71% population of India that consumes Digital content every day.
My father who is a man of his strict sleeping routine, one morning woke up with a hangover. It was the binge-watch hangover from a series he was extremely engrossed in. My poor old man could hardly get through the day and swore to not spend extreme hours on Netflix. While the oath was only for a couple of hours, it got me thinking, what is more interesting? His interest into web-series or his know-how of the OTT or his sheer innocence of binge-watching?
On the other hand, while trying our hands on a Thai Massaman Fish Curry, my mother and I were casually discussing what could we add to the dish. She instantly suggested that we refer to her facebook to check-out the recipe. Before I could agree, she was already with her earphones on, listening to the blabber. I was stunned to see this and it only added to the theory I picked up from my father. (Yeah, the Thai Curry was amazing.)
On reading about Social Media addiction in the elderly, according to Statista India, over 6% of the population, aged above 50 years, uses the Internet through mobile phones almost 3-4 hours a day. The common channels being WhatsApp and Facebook majorly. And the statistics made sense when I had a first-hand encounter with both my parents. My mother is cling to Facebook for short-videos, movies or songs. While, my father is up-to-date on every web series that comes in on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Hotstar.
Another striking aspect of this observation is that as my household wakes up every morning to WFH video calls and much anticipation on the next move by the government, the social media theories are given immense boost through personal assumptions. Could this be the success of marketing through the elderly? Maybe. But, that's a discussion for another day. My work here begins and not ends by voicing an observation about social media addiction in the elderly.
Summary
I feel we are moving into an age where the elderly though being adaptive are also fighting the urge of being involved in something. At an age where work is slow, life even slower, they find distraction from loneliness through digital media and the variety it offers. How good does that turn out to be would need more theories and research. Till, then help your parents learn social media, digital inventions, and new-age technology. You can also look at the embedded link for understanding my POV of this article.