BEWARE: TECHNOLOGY CAN CAUSE PREMATURE AGEING

By Nikki Girvan
Junior Account Manager,Tangerine PR

Working at Tangerine PR especially alongside our social media team, Juice Digital technology is a part of my everyday life. There is no escaping it, but I have a concern – I reckon technology is ageing me prematurely, and I’m not talking about electromagnetic waves from my mobile phone here.


Let me explain.

Last week, while talking to a younger relative, I happened to mention that, as a teenager, if I wanted to watch a particular TV programme I would have to be at home, on a set day, at a set time - all of which was dictated by that the channel the show was on.

She wasn’t just surprised, she was AGHAST.

Young’un: “So you would have to be there, then, or you’d miss it? What about Sky Plus or watch again?”

Me: “It didn’t exist… you could record it on VHS, but Dad was usually videoing something…”

Young’un “What’s VHS?”

Cue me, at just a few months shy of the big 3-0, feeling ANCIENT.

This wasn’t my first experience of technologically-induced premature aging. Over Christmas, while speaking to a friend’s younger cousin, I regaled a story about when, as a rookie journalist and relatively new driver, I was told to take myself to Birmingham to cover a breaking news story.

I dutifully jumped in my car and got myself on the M6, driving for over an hour before I realised I was heading in the wrong direction, towards Blackpool.

Young’un (jaw gaping): “Was your sat nav broken?”

No, it wasn’t – I didn’t have one. At that time, sav nav was a relatively new and super expensive luxury. The most sophisticated navigation system I had at my disposal at the time was a tattered road map of the UK.

I know I can’t be the only one feeling this – I reckon that anyone born B.M.I, (Before Mainstream Internet - circa 1995) – those of us who are digital immigrants, not natives, will have had similar moments talking to younger cousins, siblings or even colleagues!

The funny thing is, though, that technology also has a way of reviving things. As social media exploded and online TV appeared, the prediction was that broadcast audiences would rapidly move away from their televisions and choose to consume broadcast media via their iPads and laptops, and TV as ‘oldies’ like me remember, would fade away and die.

But the rise of social media and the phenomenon of the ‘second screen’ (watching television while also commenting on/watching responses to shows on a smartphone or laptop, simultaneously) has breathed new life into broadcast media.

To cite Mashable  CEO, Pete Cashmore, it has brought about the dawn of ‘must-Tweet TV’ – TV that gets the masses online tweeting, sharing and blogging, creating an almighty buzz and lifting ratings. No longer bound by the constraints of TV scheduling, where the programmes broadcast at peak times to a captive audience (teatimes, Saturday evenings) were the ones that won the ratings race, ‘must-tweet TV’ gives the underdogs a chance too.

As well as the obvious ‘must tweet’ programmes – the X Factor, TOWIE and of course Question Time – more niche and offbeat shows are also reaping the benefits, such as quirky comedy Him & Her, Golden Globe winner, Luther, and Masterchef.

So although I’m not best pleased with this technology-induced ageing process, the speed of change does have its benefits and, when it comes to TV, it proves that there’s life in the old girl yet.

Let’s hope the same can be said about me!