Ipsit Vahia

I think older people have the coolest stories.

And I could spend the rest of our time together just telling you cool stories I've heard over the years from my patients and the people I work with.

So all four of my grandparents were at my medical school graduation, which was just unusual and really special.

I started to see them lose a step as they got older.

But I also saw what they retained and the ways in which they just seemed to get funnier and sharper.

And they just seemed to have like wisdom and perspectives to give.

The sentinel event, I think, for all tech in all of our lives was the arrival of the smartphone that was 2007.

Some of it comes down to what could they be doing if they were not on that screen, which is to say, is the screen keeping them away from better things?

Or is it giving them something to do when the option is isolation and apathy?

So smartphone use is rising very rapidly, I think, at this point.

Smartphone ownership data among older adults are comparable to most other age groups.

But I think the pattern of how they use their smartphones, I think, varies considerably.

in that older adults aren't quite as engaged with things like social media and visual social media at the same rates as younger adults.

They use them for more practical purposes.

A lot of it is just following the news or getting information.

But in my personal and family circles, the WhatsApp addiction and overuse of WhatsApp is the one I hear about most often.

Inherent in that particular app is that, you know, you're part of a group or you're communicating with people.

So there is a pro-connection aspect to it.

It really is, because you can do everything.

You can text, you can call, you can video chat.