As millennials and zoomers abandon Facebook for younger and hipper apps such as Instagram and TikTok, the Zuckerberg site is quickly becoming a soapbox for baby boomers and the silent generation. They are out there sharing death announcements on gleeful, happy posts, or worse - posts that for some reason show off dirty nails or a picture of a well-manicured lawn. They are using the site's happy banner and avatar features to share bad news or frustration. And, as has pretty much always been the case, they are sharing many, many mysterious non sequiturs that they absolutely refuse to explain.
While it may seem like we are cruelly mocking these well-meaning Facebook users, that could not be any farther from the truth. We actually find their eagerness to share their feelings with the world to be sweet and wholesome. We also find their dedication to staying current to be admirable. While it's generally more fun to spot a clueless boomer-post in the wild, there are some excellent internet destinations that take great care in collecting these amusing social media moments.
The first of our favorite sources lives on Reddit, a place we have yet to see the elderly flexing their keyboard skills. The subreddit r/oldpeoplefacebook is exactly what it sounds like - an absolute mecca of disjointed posts from older folks who have yet to get the hang of the site. The community has been around since February 2013, and has amassed an impressive 1 million members in the eight years since its inception. This staggering membership really comes as no surprise - a lot of people have Facebook, and a lot of people know old people. While most of the submissions stay very true to the Facebook theme, there are a few amusing texts from elderly grandparents and nonsensical DMs thrown into the mix for good measure.
The Facebook group "Please show to Jim ! ! HA ! ! HA ! !" is another wonderful place to take in the utter majesty of geriatrics on social media. While browsing the contributions of the group requires actually logging into the cursed site, we think it's well worth the sacrifice. This group is a little more varied in its offerings than r/oldpeoplefacebook. The group, which requires an invitation or a membership application, includes everything from amusing product reviews to actual letters (composed on a computer) and YouTube comments. While this group was created three years after their Reddit competitor, its members post a lot, which is convenient for very bored people who need to be on Facebook for work. We've put together some quality old-person-posts from both of the groups for your easy enjoyment, but we implore you to join and get in on the fun yourself. This kind of content doesn't last forever. Soon, the old people on the internet will have been using it for years. And things will probably be a lot less fun.
