THE Internet does not discriminate against age. While we often look to millennials and zoomers as digital natives and the faces of the age of the Internet, senior citizens have also found technology indispensable in staying connected to loved ones, keeping abreast of current affairs and even becoming social media personalities and gamers in their own right.
Getting a taste of YouTube fame
Dorene Wong, 78, was in the unique position to experience early YouTube popularity after appearing in her son Jin Lim’s videos. Better known as JinnyBoy, Jin casts his mother in many of his hugely popular videos, which can garner up to 2.7 million views, and occasionally features her on his social media accounts. Portraying a funny and relatable motherly character has earned her a following of her own, with fans stopping her on the street for pictures and more than 6,000 followers on her Instagram account, @auntyabuden. Wong said that, despite it being tiring, it was a fun experience. “Apart from getting recognised in public, I feel happy to have viewers tell me that the films I star in, entertain them or relate to them,” she said.
A family that games together, stays together
The first thing Vera Fong, 60, learned about the Internet was online games. It started out as a way of monitoring and connecting with her children. “I wanted to see why they stick to the computer all day. So I joined them to see what they played,” Fong said. It turned out that she really enjoyed playing games, dabbling in online games such as Perfect World International and Aion. These days, however, she has moved on to mobile games like Gardenscapes, which she plays with her daughter.
Connected to all, connected for all
Fong finds the Internet an incredibly important aspect of her life, from helping her work effectively to keeping in touch with loved ones near and fa - benefits and uses that cut across generations. Similarly, Wong, a retired teacher, believes there is no age limit when it comes to the Internet and that education is a lifelong endeavour. “Regardless of age, I always encourage all people to learn about the Internet because there’s so much we can learn online,” she said.