"Senior Citizens and How they Can Benefit From the Internet"?

chillibreeze writer — Prabir Ghose

Senior citizens are wise old men and women who have seen the ups and downs of life and have retreated from the line of fire. Some love to isolate themselves from society to survive on memories; others love to share their experiences with one and all. This latter group is gaining prominence with each passing day – it believes that superannuating from regular service does not convert one into a fossil. It certainly does not mean that they have lost the power to serve. In fact, there are innumerable consultants in every field who are only too eager to share their knowledge and experience and who consider this business of consulting as a means to be gainfully employed. When they succeed in achieving the goal, it removes all problems normally associated with being cutoff from a time table one had got accustomed to.

Five broad ways in which senior citizens can benefit from the internet can be summarized as follows – ease of living, better communication, financial gains, socializing and pleasure.

Internet for ease of living – Senior citizens are curious to know everything about everything. The internet provides the solution. He who feels something missing in his life minus the daily newspaper can log on to the net and browse the internet editions in peace over is cup of tea or coffee. Moreover, with on-line banking systems of making payments in vogue, he does not have to stand in queue to pay the electricity or telephone bills. He can even access his bank account without visiting the bank. If he has a computer at home, fine; if he does not, he can go to the cyber café down the road.

Internet for better communication – yes, senior citizens are increasingly taking recourse to the internet to vent their anger or have their say in important matters pertaining to the country, its people, its governance. They have taken to blogging. It is quite popular in Western countries – most internet editions of newspapers have sections devoted to blogging. The subjects are topics of the day and are an extension of the ‘letters to the Editor’ concept. The space limitation of the print media has reduced these once popular columns to a representative one. Blogs overcome this handicap – there are no restrictions on the comments posted and their replies and counter replies. These make for interesting reading. Of course, the administrators have the right to delete irrelevant or obnoxious comments to maintain the decorum of the sites.

Internet for financial gains - those who are the senior citizens of today were in their fifties when the internet craze took the world by storm. It has taken them quite a bit of time to get familiar with the new medium of communication. However, when there is a determined approach, nothing is impossible. The number of senior citizens who work from homes on consultancy jobs are not readily available but it must be in millions. These professionals use the internet extensively to share their expertise globally, and interact with other likeminded persons who can be accessed by the click of a mouse. The monetary gains are always welcome.

Internet for socializing – this is usually with regard to friends and relatives via e-mails or by chatting. Once, one had to make phone calls at considerable expense; today it is lightning swift and more convenient. There is the category of seniors who were written off as old hags but who re-identify themselves under new names and live out new characters trying to fulfill their lost wishes. It is fun to meet a person on a social networking site who gives himself the nickname of ‘Black Beard’. The name conjures up visions of a vicious looking, evil person. The girls swoon over him, the boys envy him. He is young at heart and loves every minute of the drama. No one knows that he is in his 70s!

Internet for pleasure – reports surface from time to time in the media that organizations run up huge bills for the use of the internet by their officers. There have been startling revelations that officers, ensconced in the privacy of their chambers, browse the net for cheap thrills. When it becomes a habit, it gets carried forward even in the post superannuation periods. By cheap thrills, one should not jump to conclusions that it has to be related to pornographic material – the thrill could come from a Western or a war movie of the 60s or film music of the bygone eras.

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—About our writer:

Prabir says, "My love affair with the net began after my retirement. Search and you will find, listen and you will hear, open the eyes and you will see – that is how I have been re-inventing myself for the past 64 odd years."

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