Read the following excerpt and answer the following
questions.
Today's grandparents are joining their grandchildren on
social media, but the different generations' online habits couldn't be more different. In the UK the over-55s
are joining Facebook in increasing numbers, meaning
that they will soon be the site's second biggest user
group, with 3.5 million users aged 55–64 and 2.9 million
over-65s.
Sheila, aged 59, says, 'I joined to see what my grandchildren are doing, as my daughter posts videos and
photos of them. It's a much better way to see what
they're doing than waiting for letters and photos in the
post. That's how we did it when I was a child, but I think
I'm lucky I get to see so much more of their lives than
my grandparents did.'
Ironically, Sheila's grandchildren are less likely to use
Facebook themselves. Children under 17 in the UK are
leaving the site – only 2.2 million users are under 17 –
but they're not going far from their smartphones. Chloe,
aged 15, even sleeps with her phone. 'It's my alarm
clock so I have to,' she says. 'I look at it before I go to
sleep and as soon as I wake up.'
Unlike her grandmother's generation, Chloe's age
group is spending so much time on their phones at
home that they are missing out on spending time with
their friends in real life. Sheila, on the other hand, has made contact with old friends from school she hasn't
heard from in forty years. 'We use Facebook to arrange
to meet all over the country,' she says. 'It's changed my
social life completely.'
Teenagers might have their parents to thank for their
smartphone and social media addiction as their parents
were the early adopters of the smartphone. Peter, 38
and father of two teenagers, reports that he used to be
on his phone or laptop constantly. 'I was always connected and I felt like I was always working,' he says.
'How could I tell my kids to get off their phones if I was
always in front of a screen myself?' So, in the evenings
and at weekends, he takes his SIM card out of his
smartphone and puts it into an old-style mobile phone
that can only make calls and send text messages. 'I'm
not completely cut off from the world in case of emergencies, but the important thing is I'm setting a better
example to my kids and spending more quality time
with them.'
Is it only a matter of time until the generation above and
below Peter catches up with the new trend for a less
digital life?
From: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/skills/reading/b1-reading/digital-habits-across-generations