Web Surfing Like Your Grandma: Slow Down, Click Slowly

I got my first computer in 2002 when I was 12 years old, considerably later than my peers in school. I distinctly remember being the only kid in my grade 8 ‘Design and Technology’ class who didn’t have a computer.

Until 2011, when I got my first smartphone, I could remember being genuinely offline. If I had to look something up or check my email, it required access to my home PC, or a trip to the library.

I notice a lot of older folks still operate this way, and honestly, there’s something charming and sensible to it.

Here’s what that slow, deliberate approach to the web might actually look like:

Read Things Slowly

• Don’t skim scroll.
• Read and genuinely consider the article/post/content before forming an opinion.
• Recognise trashy, rage-bait content.

Be Loyal

Once you find a good website, support it. Trust your bookmarks. Not everything needs to be discovered fresh through an algorithm.

Ask for Help

When something doesn’t make sense, call someone like your grandma would. We could all stand to ask for help more and silently stew less.

Admit Your Gullibility

She falls for scams, and so do you. She clicks dodgy links and believes bogus AI slop, but so does everyone. The difference is she doesn’t feel embarrassed to ask “is this real?”

The Internet is a Tool

Grandmas go online to do something: print a recipe, email a friend, look up a bus timetable. Then they close the laptop.

Forget FOMO

Your typical grandma isn’t checking Twitter/X to see what’s trending. She doesn’t know what’s trending and she’s fine without it. In fact, she’s probably thriving.

Be Genuine

She keeps the internet social, not performative. She emails and forwards authentically. She shares things to specific people because she thought of them, not to broadcast to an audience.

In a world that moves so fast it all blurs into noise, be like grandma.