Social media: Millennials and issues they have with their old folks online

Teens and young adult children on social media find a lot of things wrong when their parents engage them on social media.

Millennials (also known as Generation Y) who are said to have birth years starting from mid-1990s to early 2000s as ending birth years.

These group of individuals are conversant with the internet age, an era where having a social media presence is seen as regular lifestyle.

But with the older generation (between ages 35 and 49), while some are still showing apathy towards technology, others are fast getting acquainted with the usefulness of social media and generally being internet savvy, there has also come to be the situation whereby these older folks are trying to connect with the younger folks.

Interestingly, the generation most obsessed with their smartphones are the middle-aged, according to Nielsen.

So we see a mum, aunt, an uncle or dad joining Facebook and friend requesting their nephews, nieces, and of course their own children made up of teens and young adults.

You could also catch them on Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Skype and WhatsApp among other online social platforms.

Now as we all know, most of these parents have their strong traditional values, which they bring to bear on social media.

And these are some of the reasons the millennials are not so welcoming of their old folks online.

To get some insight, a little survey was conducted within Pulse Nigeria amongst the social media and editorial team to find out those who were uncomfortable with having their parents as contacts on social media.

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The feedback showed varying thoughts, some were for it while others, not so much.

For those who had reservations, these were some of the responses obtained:

“It means they have to see everything I put up. I remember once during the era of bbm. I put a picture of my friend and I with a caption "partner in crime" and my mum called me and started asking me I could be implicated with that statement and I should take it down. “

“They always tend to send unwanted messages and most often give advice over uncalled profile status.”

“I don't want anyone preaching to me unnecessarily.”

“They take my pictures too seriously.”

“My mum's nasty ass comments e.g. Tolani, is that what we sent you to do at work?”

“Chiefly because they'll definitely be uncomfortable with the content on my social media, and vice versa.”

This goes to say that as much as parents embracing social media is a good thing, some might still find content placed by their children or wards across these platforms as overbearing, which these new age kids may not want to have to  deal with.

It’s different strokes for different folks. It really is not a do or die affair. The millennials can also communicate with parents if they picture there might be misunderstanding and conflicts down the line, which should also be extended along the way in the event differences arise.

And it’s also okay not to want to deal with them (parents) on the social networks at all.

It really is up to you.

SOURCE - PULSE.NG posted by Campus94