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Is The Facebook Challenge Ageist?

We asked “Does anybody else think the Facebook challenge “How hard did aging hit you?” is ageist?”

 

 

Here are a few responses:

What a great conversation to have. One of the challenges of getting older is our appearance. Chip Conley referred to it as “facial discrimination.” In a culture that values youth, we even discriminate against ourselves. At least, I do! Who is this person I see in the mirror? That’s not the person I imagine myself to be, but that’s what the world sees, and the world responds to what they see on the surface, not what’s in my mind. Unless I can learn how to reveal what’s in my mind in ways that don’t push those in power (youth) away. Chip Conley’s strategy was brilliant at Airbnb. He knew he couldn’t go in as the old guy who was going to set those young whippersnappers straight. He had to forge relationships and create intergenerational learning and respect.

In my opinion, we “old folks” create a lot of our own problems because we act old in our thinking and behavior. We don’t take care of ourselves physically or mentally. I’ve seen people in their fifties and sixties who are overweight, bent over and shuffling. I don’t think it has to be that way. Chip Conley challenges us to keep ourselves mentally fit. Why can’t we keep ourselves physically fit?

So, yes the FB photo challenge is ageist. Of course, we’re going to look different as we age. Why should it matter? (note to self: listen to your own advice.)

or

Yes – dislike it strongly. Personally I don’t like the continued focus on the superficial …. Technically – Are folks not also thinking that this could be to improve facial recognition algorithms?

and

Nah, it’s just mindless fun for the FB crowd

Not offended – just another silly FB time-waster that’s best ignored

and for something completely different

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Hiring Practices Revealed

Ageist founder David Stewart published a look inside the hiring practices of HR departments, interviewing leaders having 10-25 years of experience. While those interviewed admitted there was some age discrimination in hiring, often the issues have more to do with relational qualities than skill set or outright ageism.

  • Is the candidate someone people want to be around, especially younger people?
  • Is the candidate intimidating in their use of experience and knowledge?
  • Is the candidate making a meaningful connection with the interviewer?

Other factors where there may be a disconnect include: cultural fit, being overqualified, requiring a higher salary,

We can appreciate how this subtle difference in how a resume or communication is presented can signal the author as being out of touch. We see it nearly every day:

A simple example is: use a single space after a period rather than a double space.

Since the introduction of computer-aided typography it has not been necessary to use double spacing between sentences. They system accommodates for this now and this seemingly subtle difference signals that you could be very behind the times.

There are more examples of how age bias emerges from both the interviewer and the candidate. But the common reason for missing out on the opportunity can be a simple cultural dissonance which can often be managed by simply reading the room and being prepared.

Read the full article: The Truth About HR Hiring Practices

Photo by Tim Gouw from Pexels

Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels

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We’re Here and We’ve Got Something to Say!

During our event in Washington DC the attendees broke into groups after the featured speakers. Each group had a topic they explored around the theme of “Changing It Up: Raising Awareness of Our Aging Society.”

One group explored “Digital Communications.” As there were attendees from organizations supporting awareness of aging communities, one recurring theme was how those organizations could combine efforts to get their messages out to larger audiences.

Following are some comments from the discussion.

There is an idea that people are just not aware of the crisis that’s happening (with the financial issues of an aging population.) You can sound the alarms like we see with the opioid crisis to get people to become more aware.

Another idea is to do something more positive. Maybe a Netflix series or some other enjoyable programming where it puts the viewers in the situation of being older in America. It could explore the many ways that we got here and the many ways that we are working on it. Whether a series or some other kind of storytelling, the stories should be told so people become aware of what what can and can’t be done.

At the end of the day we are humans talking to humans. When I go to buy something I buy from people I like and trust. If I’m trying to get a message out or if I’m trying to absorb a message, I usually will take it better from somebody I like, know or trust.

Maybe it can happen via online classes supported by larger brands.

Looking at multigenerational collaboration, what are they interested in? Maybe we use gaming or other ways of communicating that meet those generations where they are. 

Can we make it newsworthy? There’s a lot of public media out there.

There is a hugely powerful group of people here all with similar missions. So what we need to be talking about is how can we partner with each other to reach more people.

Would you like to attend a Next For Me Event? Find out more.

If you’d like to continue this conversation join the Next For Me Slack Channel.