Every filtered image, carefully worded caption and strategic "silent period" reveals something deeper than just your preference: it reveals motive. Psychologically, your digital behavior maps onto enduring patterns of identity formation, impression management and social comparison.
Ever wondered what your Instagram feed says about your inner animal? Or why you scroll through TikTok like a cautious deer while your friend posts boldly like a roaring lion? The way we use social media mirrors the same personality traits scientists have found in animals for decades. Just as personality traits like neuroticism, agreeableness and extraversion have been studied in animals, these same traits shape how we present ourselves online.
My brother and I are both in our late 60s. We're close, and I consider his wife a good friend of mine. I discovered that my brother is engaging in some pretty questionable interactions on the social feed Threads. He's been replying to quite a few posts by barely clothed women, complimenting them, saying he would like to date them, and asking them to DM him. Putting ethics aside, I am concerned that these posts will somehow reach his wife, or his two adult children.
The Baby Boomer generation has an unusual relationship with technology. Due to the huge strides made with digital technology, computers, smart phones, A.I., and all other associated telecommunications and information processing they entail, there is a somewhat unfair stereotype that a majority of seniors are Luddites and still living exclusively in the analog realm. Besides the fact that most of the people who built the current architecture,