a twittering grandmother

Look grandma, someone tweeted a recipe for cookies!

I meant to post about this a couple days ago, but here it is now. I listening to a CBC podcast about a grandmother who uses Twitter. If you haven't listening to it, it's about a grandmother and son from the UK. The son's friends convinced him to set up a Twitter account for his grandmother because he was often quoting his grandmother on his own Twitter account. He his grandmother's fingers in that he keys all of her tweets. He reads the posts to her, and she's incredibly fascinated with how such a small thing (a laptop) can bring her into contact with people from hundreds of different countries. This got me thinking about my grandparents and if they would be able to use technology.

• My grandfather on my dad's side died a few years ago. He was a stretcher bearer in World War II. Shot in the head by a German sniper and presumed dead by newspapers, he was actually very much alive. My grandfather rode his bicycle until he was 85, so he was a pretty fit individual. I don't think he'd have any interest in the internet, though he may have been interested in pictures or stories from the War. My grandfather did love his television though, and always looked forward to Jays games and curling matches.
  

• My grandmother on my dad's side doesn't use too much technology. We bought he a VCR years ago, and she never really used it because it confused her. She quickly gave the gift back to us. My grandmother is so involved in her community at church and senior citizen homes that I don't feel she'd be interested in using a computer, for example. She's content with her life as it is, and would likely see no point in using technology. I don't think she'd be able to live without her microwave, though.
  
  

• My grandmother on my mom's side died recently, during my second month of internship. She was a bit more tech-savvy than my grandparents on my dad's side. She had no issues working a VCR or DVD player. She didn't use a computer, but I feel that if she had the desire to learn, she would have been able to use one.
• My grandfather on my mom's side is about as tech-savvy as his wife. I don't think that he has an interest in learning how to use a computer, but we show him Facebook pictures from other members of the family and seems as though he's picked up on a lot of the technology lingo that a lot of family members use every day. He's definitely more open to technology than my dad's parents. He sees the value in it and doesn't disregard it as "useless rubbish."