Age is not an excuse, I know.
I am always reminded by my mother who tried to learn the computer and the piano in her eighties. Well, she did not quite succeed, but the fact is that she tried. For the piano, my mother is tone deaf (she doesn’t know it, but she is), so that explains why she failed. For the computer, she was not bad, actually, and she could do video chats with my brother who lives overseas, she could listen to youtubes, but I failed at teaching her to do internet banking, which was all for the better, actually.
Now, she is legally blind (age-related macular degeneration, a genetic condition) and only has very limited peripheral vision, but if she were not, you can be sure she would still be trying to learn new things. She’s 92 this year and her long-term memory is intact, only the short-term is deteriorating. All of us would get there one day too, if we live long enough, that is.
So, back to my story about learning new technology… We have to do it, otherwise, we will be left far behind, especially in communication.
I had to suddenly learn the ropes of Instagram two days ago when I was desperately trying to find a home for Mr Koo’s cat family. All this while, as you well know, our main platform is this blog. This WordPress blog serves me well because it has everything I like to do – I love to write and post relevant photos and that’s all I’ve ever needed.
We started almost 16 years ago, and that was the in-thing at that time – blogging. Then a friend advised me that we needed a presence on Facebook. As reluctant as I was, he started a Facebook page for us (not a personal page, but for an organisation). Then, it was up to me to man it. Oh dear…until today, all I do is to go to our FB page, paste the link back to this blog and run for my life. I don’t know anything about following and tagging and whatever else Facebook has. What I do know is that if I don’t paste a photo on the Facebook post, we will not get any likes! I don’t know why, but it has always been like this. That is why when I have no photo to paste, I will just paste a photo of my hands on the keyboard, like I’m doing for this post! `
Then there was Twitter (now known as X). Twitter was much easier because it allows me to paste the link and run for my life too without glitches. The Facebook (organisation) page has too many glitches and it is still very, very annoyingly challenging to overcome the glitches until today. Your personal FB account is fine (I have one too which I only write about health matters these days), but try manning an organisation page and you will know what I mean.
Then came Instagram. I was told that we should have a presence there too, but my techie friend already warned me: Don’t start one unless you can manage it. I did not take her advice and I started one – BOOM! It was a complete disaster. It did not allow the pasting of clickable links. I could not do what I do on Facebook and X. And posting photos was a pain. I could not adjust the photos.
Then, worst of all, Instagram is meant as a mobile phone app; it is not computer-friendly at all. There are many of its functions which are not available on the computer. Dang!
I know the majority of humans live and breathe on their phone these days, but I am a 100% phone-idiot (not proud of it, merely stating a fact). I only use my phone for receiving calls from delivery people and for taking photos with the phone camera. I even whatsapp on the computer. And I’m drawing a line there because the phone screen is really way too small for me and I’m not going to damage my eyesight more by staring at the phone screen. At 62, I don’t wear spectacles and I hope I will never need to. I do fine with a magnifying glass for small print. I am long-sighted (presbyopia, due to aging), and I don’t have short-sightedness (myopia).
My grandmother could still thread a needle at 80+ and she never wore spectacles all her life (thanks to her daily gojiberry drink). I cannot (thread a needle anymore), but never mind. I just don’t like having something sitting on my face. I’m not buying a phone with a bigger screen because I keep my phone in my pocket and I don’t carry handbags. Never did, never wil, if possible. Snatch thieves target handbag carriers and my friend’s wife died (yes, died) when someone snatched her handbag and dragged her on the street.
So, Instagram – what a pain in the neck!
And just like Facebook, I don’t know there was a tagging and following function and I certainly do not know the “courtesies” of Instagram until I got told off for not observing said courtesies. That was painful. But for the sake of finding the cat family a home, for the sake of the animals, what can you do, but eat humble pie. You can scold me for anything: for being strict with our policies, for being unable to help you further, for being stupid in phone usage, for not knowing Mandarin, but if you say I have no courtesy, that is a direct hit on my parents and that really, really, really hurts me to the core.
In any case, to me, “following” someone is like stalking, and that has always been the way I see it. But apparently, “following” is an acceptable trend these days on social media, I just learnt. Call me a social media-idiot. I am one. You are absolutely right.
But let’s not talk about that anymore. Now, I think I may have to learn the ropes of Instagram because I had already (huge mistake, I know) started the page so as my techie-friend warned me, and rightly so, I would have to manage it. Serves me right for not heeding her advice!
So, if by any chance you are “following” us on Instagram, please could you also “follow” us on one of the following:
This blog: https://animalcare.my/
Our Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/animalcare.my/
Our X page: https://x.com/animalcaremy
The reason is that Instagram on the computer has limited functions so you will not get all our stories. I only post our neutering aid package stories (all the financial aid we disburse) on Instagram. I really do not have time to rewrite the stories on Instagram and it doesn’t allow clickable links.
I was told we do have followers on Instagram, but I know the bulk of our followers (can I use the word “supporters” instead?) are on this blog and Facebook. I know, because the moment I suffer a bereavement from the loss of one of our pets, the condolence messages will pour in on Facebook and personal texts. I thank you so much for this. You are silent readers, I know.
Thank you so much for “following” us!
Thank you so much for being our readers and supporters!
Is TikTok our next platform? For now, no, please!!
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