Literatus: The Internet ‘divide’ and age

I HAVE two friends in my Facebook account who are avid players of the online click-game Mafia Wars. They were two of my first game team mates, and both invited me to join them in their respective teams.

Sharon Douglas is a 53-year-old Australian, while Gary Brown is in his mid-50s (he placed no year in his info space). Sharon is on level 329 in the game while Gary is on level 364. I am a mere level 229. You can tell by how hard they play the game they love. The so-called “Internet divide” is non-existent to them.

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A recent study—which came out in the October-December 2009 issue of the Journal of Medical and Internet Research—documented that Internet users have better assessment of their health compared to nonusers. That explains to me why Sharon and Gary love playing online and network games with other people.

They simply know the joy of connecting beyond their "geophysical" friends, their neighborhood and workmates, and reaching out to the Web for extended friendships and game families.

Spanish researchers Enrique Gracia of the University of Oveido and Juan Herrero of the University of Valencia conducted a study in 2008.

It involved 709 adults across genders with ages between 55 and 74. They reported that 67 percent enjoyed better relative health. But this relationship disappeared once social class was factored into the equation.

The Internet divide, however, obviously exists among “old-agers” (i.e. the elderly) in the country. This is because of the disparity between education and socioeconomic status.

Those who have less in both cannot be expected to take interest or find time in going to an Internet café or pay for a connection at home. Without much stimulation to the mind, most senior Filipinos who stay home simply deteriorate mentally, with nothing to do that could keep their life stay meaningful and exciting.

It is nice to think that learned groups take the time to instruct the elderly about the portal to the “digital beyond,” and perhaps provide some means to get them connected at home.

But sometimes that may not be enough. The great digital divide could be so wide and deep it would be too late to cross it successfully. And old dogs oftentimes may find it extremely hard to learn new tricks.

Robert Browning’s perspective on growing old remains useful in old age: “Grow with me! The best is yet to be.”

Perhaps the “neurotically” correct perception of Mignon McLaughlin in his The Neurotic’s Notebook (1960) hits the excitement clearly: “As we grow older, our capacity for enjoyment shrinks but not our appetite for it.” You just have to take that appetite to the max to keep those spirits up.