Need for "Over 70's" thread?

Legacy_user

Of late, I have noticed that I am unable to communicate easily with some of the posters on MSE as they are knowledgeable about things technical, especially the internet and I am not. Frequently when asking questions of them, I am thrown questions that, being a late in life person, I find I'm unable to answer. As such, it makes you want to remove yourself from MSE.

One would have thought that in this day and age, people would be more tolerant of others that clearly had a lack of technical knowledge and instead of making them feel uncomfortable, would try to explain or simply not answer, instead of smart-a*** replies, written from the safety of an unmoderated site.

So again, if anyone else has experienced being talked down to on MSE, or felt uncomfortable simply because they lacked technical communication skills again here on MSE, perhaps they too might like a thread for us real oldies or failing that, tell me if they know of a similar website where us oldies can post in the full knowledge that if we are lost for information, it would be offered without sarcasm etc.then I would be most grateful.

seven-day-weekend

I'm sorry you feel 'got at', islandman. What sort of things do you mean, that people have been nasty about? Can you give an example?

I think an 'over-70s' thread may be a bit self-limiting as there won't be as many people around to answer questions.

(BTW I'm only just turned 60, but hope I have never been rude to you (or anyone else for that matter!).

shellsuit

Can I just say, that we should all treat others the same, regardless of their age.

Unless it's in your sig or you tell them, people wouldn't know how old you are, so I can't see why you would think they are having a go because of your age?

I bet that the people who have given you grief, give it out to others who are much much younger than you, so I doubt it's anything to do with age at all

renegade

iSLANDMAN I have had the same experience as you, being patronized, made to feel like an idiot, replies full of tecky info that I could not follow.
Two people in particular are very fond of doing this, what I did was to 'choose to ignore' these people, and now when I post a thread I don't see their replies!
And , yes it is age related as I have informed people of my age and ignorance of all things techy and still had sarcastic replies ie- 'if your that old what are you doing with a PC?, ' if my grandmother can do it, why can't you '.
I put it down to their ignorance of the needs of the 'older generation' as there are now more of us despite what another poster said about there not being many people over 70 using this site!
Most people are understanding and I have got to know who these are and usually request replies from these kind folks.

Quentin

islandman wrote: »

PS.you can now remove the signature note, I think we've all read it and know why.

When you put this ps in, it's difficult to take your complaints too seriously!

You clearly do know how to put in a "signature note", as you had one previously which broke the rules, so why don't you remove it yourself if you are embarrassed by this public scolding?

espresso

islandman wrote: »

PS.you can now remove the signature note, I think we've all read it and know why. Again, little did I know I had committed a cardinal sin by quoting another website. Put it down to ignorance on my part.

I agree that it's nothing to do with age and an over 70's thread would be counter productive. Why draw the line at 70? Would a 65 year old be barred?

If you are asked a question that you don't understand, why not just say "I don't understand what you mean, can you explain how I would do that please?" and I'm sure that you would be given all the help that you require.

e.g. here Posting your router stats is very easy to do, just because you have not done this before does not make it any harder to understand. It is as simple as visiting a webpage and copy & pasting a few lines of text into the thread.

I remember when you needed help to post some of your pictures in a thread on the forum. Age makes no difference, if you need help, it makes no difference if you are 17 or 77! You did learn how to post your pictures and that is a good example of others giving you help that you needed to achieve your goal.

Age or sex makes no difference and you are never too old to learn new tricks!

PS. you can obviously change your signature yourself, just like when you added to your profile originally.

seven-day-weekend

However, espresso, I think YOUR signature, with its accompanying smilies, may be an example of the sort of thing the OP is talking about. It is informative without the smilies, it could be taken as irritation or sarcasm with them. Some people genuinely do not know that blue text means a link you can click on.

Not complaining, just pointing out.

espresso

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

However, espresso, I think YOUR signature, with its accompanying smilies, may be an example of the sort of thing the OP is talking about. It is informative without the smilies, it could be taken as irritation or sarcasm with them. Some people genuinely do not know that blue text means a link you can click on.

Not complaining, just pointing out.

Exactly, which is why I thought that it would be a useful signature for those willing to learn!

Personally I am amazed that some members seem to take offence at the use of smilies posted on the forum.

e.g. the removal of the :rolleyes:

shellsuit

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

However, espresso, I think YOUR signature, with its accompanying smilies, may be an example of the sort of thing the OP is talking about. It is informative without the smilies, it could be taken as irritation or sarcasm with them. Some people genuinely do not know that blue text means a link you can click on.

Not complaining, just pointing out.

I agree with you.

And not everyone would even know what a hyperlink was.

What is rude is when people ask a question, and someone will come along with a short answer, assuming that the person asking, will know exactly what they mean.

An example.

Q : Can anyone tell me how to put a picture up on here please?

A : Sign up to photobucket.

How is that helping? Some people need things explaining to them, so you have to be patient and explain in depth, such as register, search for pic on PC, upload it, explain which url to copy and where to paste it etc..

But then the person asking may not know what copying and pasting means, so that would have to be explained.

I remember when I got my first comp and people were talking about copying and pasting, I thought they were literally copying something from the internet, printing it out and pasting it somewhere :o:rotfl::rotfl:

kermitfrog

I'm 66 and dread the thought that in four years time I shall suddenly become too stupid to understand things I comprehend perfectly now.

I'd appreciate someone over 70 reassuring me that my brain won't shut down and the things I've been learning all my life won't suddenly evaporate.

An over 70's thread is something I wouldn't touch with a bargepole, any more than I would use my age as an excuse for not knowing something.

renegade

kermitfrog wrote: »

I'm 66 and dread the thought that in four years time I shall suddenly become too stupid to understand things I comprehend perfectly now.

I'd appreciate someone over 70 reassuring me that my brain won't shut down and the things I've been learning all my life won't suddenly evaporate.

An over 70's thread is something I wouldn't touch with a bargepole, any more than I would use my age as an excuse for not knowing something.

You 'dread' getting to the ripe old age of 70? Wait until you get there then you will want to be here when you are in your 80's.
Getting old and losing some of your memory is not something you can control- it is a process of the natural way of life, it is not STUPIDITY! It happens to some but not all, I welcome learning the new technology at my time of life and having all my faculties to cope with it.
Age is not something to be feared, but to welcome and use all your experience to go forward and be thankful for it!