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Paper short abstract

This paper discusses exemplary senior influencers (e.g. Wakamiya Masako) who promote digital activities or are active on SNS. As digital role models, they counter stereotypes of technology-shy seniors and raise the awareness of an inclusive digital society by sharing older internet-users’ views.

Paper long abstract

In recent years, so-called „granfluencers” have gained media attention, representing older adults who have a large followership on social media or are known for their activities with digital technology. Very often, these senior influencers are single-living women, who acquired computer and internet skills upon reaching retirement age. A prominent Japanese example is Wakamiya Masako (born 1935), known as the “world’s oldest programmer” and "ICT evangelist", who has authored numerous advice books and promotes a “happy digital life” (shiawase dejitaru seikatsu). By recounting their own experiences with computers and things digital (so-called technobiographic stories) and promoting enjoyment in the usage of digital technologies and SNS, these women can be seen as role models for a digitally active life, countering the stereotype of technology-shy seniors. I will analyze exemplary senior influencers and show how they can be interpreted as “warm experts”, a term which Maria Bakardjieva (2005) has coined with her study on ordinary internet users in the 1990s. Their mediation works in both directions: translating the technological world for digitally marginalized peers but also translating the world of senior internet-users to developers and decision makers.