Text | Jiangzhong Road
After undergoing the aging of Internet apps, the new problem of the elderly addicted to the Internet seems to have become the focus again.
During the two sessions of the National People's Congress this year, Ke Yunfeng, a deputy to the National People's Congress, brought suggestions for establishing an "anti-addiction" system for the elderly in short videos. This topic appeared on Weibo's hot search, triggering a fierce battle among netizens.
Once, the elderly were once called marginal people in the digital age, which not only means that a considerable number of elderly people will not use Internet smart devices, but also because most apps do not meet the habits of the elderly, the font is too small, the advertising is too much, the operation is complicated, and it is not suitable for the needs of the elderly. Today, after some ageing modifications, many elderly people have been able to surf the Internet easily, adding a bit of color to their later life.
Volunteers (middle) explain to the elderly how to view the residents' electronic health cards. Xinhua News Agency
The proposal of the people's congress deputies to the online short video anti-addiction model for the elderly is indeed to see the potential harm of the elderly over-accessing the Internet, and the original intention is also for the sake of the elderly. However, it should also be considered that even if some elderly people are addicted to the Internet, is it necessary to launch an anti-addiction model? Will the online anti-addiction model objectively lead to a reduction in the online welfare of the elderly? Aside from going live, is there a better solution? These are realities that must be taken into account when making decisions.
Internet access is first and foremost a form of entertainment, and the elderly also have the right to entertainment. When this generation of elderly people were young, the Internet was not yet developed, the Internet revolution did not even begin, and they did not enjoy the new life experience brought by the Internet. In the past few decades, the Internet has developed rapidly in China, and various Internet products have blossomed everywhere, which has greatly improved people's leisure and entertainment activities.
It also gives older people the opportunity to see the world. In the Internet world, the elderly and young people should be equal, more than a decade ago the popular "Internet makes the world flat", in fact, that everyone has the same opportunity to understand information and contact the world through the Internet. Older people are no exception. The public opinion field also once circulated the saying that "the Internet has won the world for young people", and the elderly seem to have become a useless group. However, in the case of more and more elderly netizens, this statement is being broken, and the elderly have become one of the main groups of Internet users.
Volunteers (left) explain the use of smartphone registration for the elderly. Photo by Ju Huanzong, Xinhua News Agency
Echoing the internet needs of the elderly and paying attention to the physical and mental health of the elderly, there is no lack of kindness. However, when proposing solutions, they should stand up to the scrutiny of logic. A natural question is: addicted to the Internet is not only owned by the elderly, middle-aged people also have this tendency, so why not launch the middle-aged anti-addiction system? Do middle-aged people have stronger self-control? Obviously, answering this question is not easy.
Some people also want to say, why can we launch the youth anti-Network addiction system, the elderly can't?
Because minors and the elderly are two groups that are fundamentally different. Minors are incapacitated or persons with limited capacity, are mentally immature, have poor identification ability, need adult supervision and assistance on the Internet, and there is nothing wrong with setting up an anti-addiction system. Elderly network users have full capacity for civil conduct, and can theoretically effectively screen network information and block bad and harmful information. To demand the elderly by the standard of adolescents, this needs more argument in theory.
In terms of the characteristics of major apps, their content is massive and diverse, which is easy to arouse interest. Therefore, to prevent the elderly from indulging in the Internet, the most important thing to solve is not to launch the anti-addiction system, but when the App is developed, it should have more content that is conducive to the health of the elderly and prevents the elderly from being deceived.
For example, in the process of App aging transformation, special shielding software should be set up for pop-up window push, advertising difficult to block, App-induced consumption, network fraud, etc., to prevent the rights and interests of the elderly from being infringed. In addition, some software that is easy to indulge the elderly, the relevant departments may wish to require these Apps to set reminder functions, and increase the frequency of reminders, to guide the elderly to use the Internet reasonably and healthily.
Photo by Yu Yang Xinhua News Agency
Whether to launch an anti-addiction model for the elderly is a problem that needs to be seriously discussed and carefully considered. But paying attention to the "Internet addiction elderly" can have many postures. Under the premise of not discriminating against the elderly and not restricting the rights of the elderly to access the Internet, what should be most required may be that the Internet platform has the responsibility to keep the soil and balance the problem of the elderly going online and preventing their rights and interests from being infringed. In any case, the problem should not be left to the elderly.
Text: Jiangzhong Road
Photo: Xinhua News Agency
Column moderator: Zhang Yongqun
Editor-in-charge: Wang Yuanfang
Editor: Wu Yaqi