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Old, online, and fed on lies: how an older population will reshape the internet
You likely have some kind of experience helping an older person navigate the internet. Maybe you set up your parent’s Facebook account, or grandma’s iPad.
This is wonderful, but it’s also set against a stark backdrop: a growing body of research suggests that older people have disproportionately fallen prey to internet misinformation and risk being more polarized by their online habits.
This on its own is a problem. It’s doubly so as older people begin to play an outsize role in civic life: people 65 and older are about to become the largest age group in America — and they are also more likely to vote and more likely to wield economic influence.
So as this older generation ascends to a position of power they haven’t had before, they are also the ones most likely to struggle with online literacy.
Read Craig Silverman on the ways older people are being left out of digital literacy efforts.
Theresa May says she wants another deadline extension and to enter talks with Jeremy Corbyn
UK Prime Minister Theresa May said she will seek yet another extension to secure Britain’s exit from the European Union. This time, it’ll be to agree a Brexit deal with Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
The move suggests that, for the first time, May could be willing to pivot to a softer Brexit.
The UK must decide whether it will take part in May's European Parliament elections by April 12.
SNAPSHOTS
Chicago has elected a black woman as mayor for the first time. Lori Lightftoot, 56, is a former federal prosecutor and campaigned on ending corruption. Lightfoot will also be Chicago's first openly gay mayor. It's her first time holding elected office.
Republicans are trying to kill an LGBT bill in Congress — by arguing it hurts women. The bill’s protections for transgender people, Republicans contend, advances a “radical gender ideology” that will erase and victimize women. The bill itself, though, would actually also carve out new protections for all women.
A Chinese woman carrying four cell phones and malware was arrested at Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort. The woman, identified as Yujing Zhang, was charged with unlawfully gaining access to Trump's Palm Beach resort and lying to federal agents.
Police have arrested a suspect in Nipsey Hussle’s murder. Eric Holder, a 29-year-old from Los Angeles, was taken into custody after a two-day manhunt. Detectives believe Hussle’s death was not related to gangs, but “rather a dispute between individuals.”
YouTubers Cole and Sav have pissed people off with their April Fools’ prank on their 6-year-old daughter. They told her they were giving away her puppy. As you can imagine, she was devastated, because she’s six years old. Anyway, now the internet is mad at the couple.
Harry and Meghan have their own Instagram now as the Royal brothers split up. The two brothers and their wives have been an Instagram unit under @KensingtonRoyal. Now, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan launched @sussexroyal, and cue “You Can Go Your Own Way.”
The Barboo Nazi prom photo shocked the world. The city’s response shocked its residents.
You remember the story because of how viral it was: young men, on their prom day, apparently giving a Nazi salute. It quickly generated the internet’s anger.
Except here’s the thing: no one got the story right, not even the town itself.
In an excellent piece, Joe Bernstein goes back to the moment that photo was taken — a photographer who asked students to wave to their parents, and an absurd misunderstanding — and reconstructs how Barboo became the focus of the news cycle.
Months later, the town has struggled to move on. While some of the boys have tried to make amends, the school district and local businesses have enacted a code of silence about the incident.
What emerges is an eye-opening case-study of the ways the internet has changed the audience of teenagers testing limits, and its forever consequences.
This Japanese dad makes the most incredible creations out of sashimi
Mikyou, a father of two, has no restaurant experience — he just started watching YouTube videos about making sushi.
The result is some breathtaking sashimi art that I can’t imagine I could ever eat because it’s so beautiful.
He told us he prepares this art/food/wonder as meals to enjoy with his family.
Now have a look at some of Mikyou’s creations:
