Who is this mysterious tribe named “the elderly”?

Results of unscientific poll about the age that people consider adults become "the elderly" pic.twitter.com/CXj03Pn7Og

— Shirley Ayres (@shirleyayres) June 26, 2016

I continue to puzzle at why “the elderly” is used with such abandon especially on social media and notably amongst health professionals and people working in the  technology industry. Our ageing population represent a victory for better nutrition, better housing, and the welfare state. People in later life offer wisdom, experience, perspective and a wide range of skill sets and capacities.

The panel agrees: health tech innovators on how the elderly aren’t as against tech adoption as most people think #HTInnovators #LDNTechWeek

— Sophie Walker (@SophieEMWalker) June 21, 2016

Just another negative label which needs erasing, such as burden, challenging, special needs, #ageism insults us all

— Gayle Everest (@LittlemsGayle) June 24, 2016

absolutely Gerry & it concerns me too how #ageism impacts on younger people – thanks for making that point

— Shirley Ayres (@shirleyayres) June 25, 2016

Why are we not embracing and utilising the wealth of knowledge and experience of older people to develop, deliver and support digital services rather than making assumptions?

@youralcove Sadly I'm now one of the 'mysterious tribe' yet I'm more Social Media 'Savvy' than my 25 year old Stepdaughter 😉

— John Malone (@realjohnmalone) June 22, 2016

So I thought I would ask Twitter about the mysterious “the elderly” tribe!

Wonder at what age people are considered to have become "the elderly"? #LDNTechWeek

— Shirley Ayres (@shirleyayres) June 22, 2016

Over 50 or 55 in places we work!!!!

— Alcove (@youralcove) June 22, 2016

As I frequently comment “age is a statistical category not an identity. Strangely people aged sixty plus are not one homogeneous group, we are as varied as individuals in any other sector of the population and our different life experiences inform our perspectives as consumers. Older people may have similar needs physically but these do not erase life experiences, preferences and orientations.

I'm intrigued to see "the elderly" bandied around as if there's consensus about age this applies to & I don't think there is!

— Shirley Ayres (@shirleyayres) June 22, 2016

I didn't think we used these terms now because of the discriminating connotations Bytheway (2005) ageism age v's how we feel

— Gayle Everest (@LittlemsGayle) June 22, 2016

Personally I find generic use of "the elderly" patronising, dismissive & lacking in respect for the wisdom & experience of older people

— Shirley Ayres (@shirleyayres) June 22, 2016

@AgeingDigital I agree. We use "older adults" as most are vibrant, interested in learning and loving their experienced life.

— TunedIN Technology (@TunedIN_Tech) June 22, 2016

A gentle reminder that baby boomers (generally considered to have been born between 1946 and 1964) have expectations and aspirations shaped by:

1953 Francis Crick and James Watson discovering the structure of DNA.

1963 Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his historic “I Have a Dream” speech

1993 work on the Human Genome Project started

1969 Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to set foot on the moon

1971 Launch of the Open University

1973 Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon is released

1998 Google founded

1998 Launch of Apple iMac

2001  Launch of Wikipedia and the first Apple iPod..

2004 Facebook is founded

2006 Twitter was created

Do feel free to vote in the Twitter poll and I will update this post when the results are ready In the meantime the search for “the elderly” tribe continues!

And just in case you have missed this!

I strongly support @thischairrocks call for a radical ageing movement! https://t.co/Nw5takpxFv HT @mryahbut

— Shirley Ayres (@shirleyayres) June 24, 2016