What is it about the text messages and emails sent by older people that make me feel like I’m having a stroke?

Maybe they’re used to various shortcuts in their writing that they picked up before autocorrect became common, but these habits are too idiosyncratic for autocorrect to handle properly. However, that doesn’t explain the emails I’ve had to decipher that were typed on desktop keyboards. Has anyone else younger than 45 or so felt similarly frustrated with geriatrics’ messages?

@asklemmy

  • macrocarpa@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Younger than 45

    Oh OK that actually makes sense.

    45 year olds and above are digital immigrants. In short, they had an off-line childhood and an online adulthood. They have different speech and writing patterns to you because they learnt and communicated in a different way to you.

    Assuming you’re under 45, this won’t make sense, because you’ve never experienced a world which doesn’t have this sort of interaction. You’re a digital native, digital tech has always been there.

    In twenty years time, children born or educated after the advent of chat gpt will have the same problem understanding you. The way you write, post and interact will seem clunky and old fashioned. It’s already happening!

    The wonderful thing about humanity, tho, is that we adapt and adopt! Consider this - everyone over the age of 50 had to learn something completely new to them in order to be able to communicate with you like this. They used to just talk or write letters. That’s it.

    • Hugh_Jeggs@lemm.ee
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      7 months ago

      Take into account that those 45 and older were the ones with disposable income when the internet took off

      We fuckin invented the digital world, and memes too!

      • retrieval4558@mander.xyz
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        7 months ago

        Not sure who the “we” is in your post but Imo the biggest influence on meme culture was 4chan and similar dumpster fire communities of the early/adolescent Internet.

          • Hugh_Jeggs@lemm.ee
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            7 months ago

            We’re kinda schizophrenic; working normal jobs during the day, but a part of our mind is still a snarky, sarcastic shitposter with a truly horrific sense of humour lol