By: Sophie Heawood / The Independent (headline: It's not the under-16s who need a social media ban - it's the over-65s)
Translation: Telegrafi.com
A friend of mine in her forties, a mother of three who runs her own business and is renovating her new home, recently posted on her Instagram account: Instagram a very nice photo of an elegant 70s living room, with one of those "conversation nooks" with low sofas. Her mother wrote to her, worried, saying that if this was the plan for the new house, it didn't seem practical at all, "and I don't like that staircase thing at all." Right after that, my friend explained to her the concept of "interior inspiration" and redistributing a photo from somewhere else - something she doesn't actually do herself.
Similarly, I recently said something online about the beautiful architecture of a church where it would be a nice thing to get married. “Oh? Who?” came the immediate response from my mother, whose all-seeing eye could easily surpass that of Bridget Jones’s mother. Thanks to my mother’s seemingly endless and seemingly constant access to social media, she doesn’t miss a thing about my life. Except for my sense of humor. I can’t tell you how many times she’s commented on my posts with a series of question marks.
So, to my surprise, I noticed that Australia has banned social media for young people. The federal government in Canberra has implemented a ban on Facebook-un, Instagram-in, Threads-in, X-in, TikTok-un, Snapchat-in, Kick-startand Twitch for those under 16, and if a company is found to have allowed access, it faces a fine of up to 50 million Australian dollars (about 28.6 million euros).
YouTubeand Reddit-i - which aren't exactly social networking sites - are also part of the ban, so they're not kidding around. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. No, this ban is probably a very good thing. As the mother of a teenager with internet access, I'm eagerly awaiting their results. But, still, I have to ask, shouldn't we be focusing our attention on those over 60?
Given that our parents, like everyone else, are constantly online and, if they're retired, probably have even more time to spend online, you'd think they'd have learned to distinguish between nonsense and life plans, or to know the difference between a photo of luxury properties and a photo of what builders are doing. But they haven't, and if it's too late to learn, maybe their internet access should be revoked.
I feel pretty confident that my very smart teenager would never fall victim to any online financial scam - but my dad did. He stayed up for hours on the phone with a random international "helpline" who were trying to drain his bank account by claiming to be fixing a virus on his computer - which they had actually put in it themselves.
I'm not saying my phone use is completely healthy, or that my daughter doesn't spend too much time in front of a screen, but at least we know we don't use the device during dinner. My mom and her friends, however, would take a picture of you eating, food dripping from your mouth, immediately upload it to their social media, and start pointing out who liked it - before you've even finished chewing.
How many times have I had to suggest that, since it's a special case, maybe we shouldn't look at Facebookduring a family meal? Young people know they shouldn't, but the phone etiquette of the retired generation has gotten out of hand. These people are unruly, with their endless stares at Samsungtheirs and iPhone-t with enlarged text - please, someone needs to stop them! At least teenagers will only post a picture of someone when they look beautiful, not with their mouth open or eyes half-closed.
Then there's a friend's father, who discovered Facebook-un only after he married his third wife, but he soon used it to reconnect with his second. He sent her a private message telling her how he was now living a life of regret, that he had made a terrible mistake, and that she had always been the true love of his life. Well, maybe the feelings were real, but not his belief that this was a private message. He had written it on her public page on Facebook, to be seen by all their relatives, their children, and his current wife.
A 14-year-old would rather die than make such a rookie mistake, so these platforms are clearly safer with them. Of course, they should be removed, but mainly because of the effect their presence there has on me.
When my daughter was in elementary school, a classmate of hers followed me to Twitter and reported to the class that I regularly joked about being a mother - an absolute horror! Now that my daughter is in high school, a close friend of hers has found me in Instagram, so she got an instant block - so that she wouldn't have any thoughts about my provocative posts. Can't a hot single mom calmly post a selfie in a miniskirt?
So, my decision on this is final: ban the elderly and the young from all social networks starting today. The internet should only exist for middle-aged idiots like me. /Telegraph/
