Many older adults grew up in households that had just one phone. That landline, usually a wall unit in the kitchen, had only one possible “app” — an extra-long cord. Phone use was totally controlled by parents, who freely listened in to all kid conversations (unless you could disappear into the hall closet with that long cord — good luck).

Here we are in our brave new world in which everyone has a beep-boop machine in their pocket, and the grownups who once watched out over our telephonic communications are now, themselves, deeply into a world of grandkid photos, Candy Crush and conspiracy theories.

Between older folk who’ve had to learn how to use phones they couldn’t dial, to digital natives who set up their first TikTok accounts from their cribs, there’s emerged a significant divide about the right ways to set up a phone, use it properly and avoid being incredibly rude along the way.

How The Generations View Their Phones

When it comes to phones, which generation is the worst? For etiquette expert Jo Hayes, that’s easy: “I hate to be the one to say this, but older people, especially Boomers, have atrocious phone hygiene. As a general rule and observation, I see younger people doing much better.”

What’s the reason for this digital divide? “Older people see technology as separate from themselves,” said Jodi RR Smith, the author of From Clueless to Class Act: Manners for the Modern Woman & Manners for the Modern Man. “Once something is installed, they’ll rarely review or delete anything, if ever. Also, they’re from a generation that experienced entire documents disappearing from clunky computers, even when saved properly, and as a result they tend to have a healthy distrust of tech.”

“For younger people, the same trepidation isn’t there,” Smith said. “They see technology as an extension of themselves, sort of a combination entertainer, constant friend and electronic security blanket. As soon as a new app or upgrade is released, they’re ready to swap it into their phones.”

How much do these different attitudes affect........

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