I am older – not old per se, but I am no spring chicken. This was brought home rather pointedly when I had to contact Tech Help at Algonquin x3 to get access to the course. The tech person was surprised by my student number being so low – he had not seen one that low yet. I am one of 183,000 alumni of Algonquin, but probably in the first 40,000. Is there anyone else in their 60’s signed up for this course? Shout out if you are out there.
https://www.algonquincollege.com/alumni/faq/
According to the Pew Reasearch Centre https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2010/08/27/older-adults-and-social-media/, I am not alone in trying to figure this out. I thought I was proficient in Facebook, having been on the site since 2004, but this year I learned how to block people for the first time. I had never had to block anyone before, but with the trucker protests, I had to figure out that button out since I did not want to see any more profane, violent, idiotic posts from people I thought were friends whose inner thoughts I realised I did not really want to know – send me pictures of happy, funny animals, not far-right political crap.
Emanuele Del Rosso
8 February 2022
Moving between sites was the first challenge. First the Algonquin site, then the OntarioLearn site, then the Brightspace site and now WordPress. All with different user names and passwords – which my computer is supposed to remember for me but does not appear to do well, hence all the calls for help.
I think I need an even more basic course, cuz man this is hard. My first assignment was a dissipointment since I did not comment on other people’s posts – I did not even see where they were after the first time. For some reason, I thought they would appear in the little message box.
I knew this was going to be hard – but now I am supposed to link in at least 2 promotional social media posts? I don’t really want to link this to my personal Facebook page, I never use twitter – am I supposed to create new ones? I have not figured out that one yet but I will, I have a message in for the teacher, I am sure she is going to be sick of me before this course is done.
In looking at the other posts made by my fellow students, it appears that I am really outclassed. They are so sophisticated and have a purpose. I had not really thought that far, nor had I thought of doing all the detailed reaserch. I thought a blog was just expressing myself, not so much promoting my ideas. I am really going to have to re-think this. I have a lot of opinions and ideas – but I guess I was not ready to promote them.
Whoo whoo! I now have a twitter account.
Interesting article on how older adults are using media: “Older adults use social media to compensate for fewer in-person interactions, UAH study says.” We are invisible.
https://www.newswise.com/articles/older-adults-use-social-media-to-compensate-for-fewer-in-person-interactions-uah-study-saySince I knew nothing about twitter this article helped:
https://www.caringseniorservice.com/blog/senior-guide-to-twitter
Algonquin College Social Media Certificate Program 
Hi Lyndsay
Your post was well written and you were very articulate. I admire your tenacity and the fact that at your age you are open to learning and exploring social media on a wider basis. I myself am working my way around WordPress and still trying to find my way, but I know I will figure it all out.I think this is a healthy way and a good start to you expressing yourself and I hope you continue to show perseverance.
Hey there Lynsday,
Even though I thought I had a good deal of knowledge about social media, I couldn’t agree more with you. The creation of these blog posts have me feeling like a deer in headlights. I think you are off to a great start and I am confident we will find our footing with this course. As a starting point for writing, I utilized the course materials, and I found this website that was also helpful, if you would like to check it out https://www.campussuite.com/blog/write-awesome-school-blog-post . Feel free to reach out to me in the future, and I look forward to seeing your growth and enjoy the world of Twitter :).
I struggled so hard as well. I was lost, I was late, I had so many tabs open – I still do! I’m slowly getting the hang of it and you will too! If you need anything I can definitely do my best to help you out. I had no idea how to use WordPress – I still don’t know if I did my blog properly! But you will get there because you are determined! You made, in my opinion, a great first blog and it is so relatable!
Lyndsay, I love your true honesty with your first blog post! It was very informative with a lot of links and pics that captured my attention. I feel it does take a lot of time to get up to speed with a self paced on-line course. I want you to know that you are not alone. It takes time and a lot of patience to get there. And look at you now on Twitter!
I feel you!! I’m almost 40 and feel like I’ve been living under a rock compared to some of the other generations that have always had social media and technology in their lives. I have also seen other blogs that made me feel a little small, but we are all such different people from different walks of life, it only makes sense that our blogs reflect who we are and what we know.
You did great! Your title drew me in right away and it was a fun read. That’s my kind of blog!
Thank you so much for posting this honest account of your experience. I am 20 years old and I feel like you just recounted half my story. I am having just as many struggles and the learning curve for me feels pretty steep. I am a terrible writer and I am pretty sure my blog was less than good. I was reading a few others and I think we have a few people in our class that could probably be teaching the class instead of taking it. Your blog made me feel like I wasn’t alone in the struggle.
As a youth who “gets” social media, try not to be too hard on yourself! I love your honesty and your willingness to learn. Patience and perseverance goes a long way with technology. My main tip for getting used to different sites is familiarizing yourself with universal symbols! If you see a gear, that means settings, 3 dots/lines stacked usually means that you can find more options there, etc. Googling how to do something can also be very helpful! Chances are, someone has had a hard time doing the same thing you’re trying to do.
The block button is definitely a good thing to know how to use. If you don’t like seeing content, there’s no point in letting it pop up in your feed! Wishing you the best of luck in this course.
P.S. If it makes you feel any better, even I’m struggling with WordPress, and going between OntarioLearn and Brightspace can be very confusing! Some sites are made more intuitively than others, that’s for sure.