Tweets - Should The Old Crows Leave The Perch For The Young Birds

The target age of a KIT Newstalk radio listener is somewhere between 45-55 and I expect that it is closer to 55 than 45 but we welcome you no matter how young or young at heart you are.

It used to be that you would come for the talk and once here, we would hope to engage you on social media as well. That piece of cheese has been flipped on its head and social media is now more important than ever. Townsquare is a "digital & media" company. Advertisers want to know how many people their message reaches and the digital world makes that much easier to demonstrate.

Follow Us On Our Social Media

So that's why we encourage you to read and share our posts, follow us on Facebook and download our app to keep in touch. At the same time, we are well aware of some of the negatives that come with social media and this bit of information is aimed right at you - the typical KIT listener age group.

You’ve probably heard about studies that found using social media can have negative consequences for teenagers and children. Maybe you even read about them here, but a new study reported in the Daily Mail finds using them can also make people ages 50+ feel depressed.

You Can't Stop Time - So Don't Try!

Harvard University researchers found that middle-aged adults are “substantially” more likely to be depressed if they used platforms favored by youngsters, such as TikTok and Snapchat, maybe because it makes them feel old.

Anytime you watch somebody trying too hard to deny their age and vainly try to beat the clock it can be depressing! But once again, it's old chicken vs old egg time. Did the older users feel depressed which drove them to these platforms or did they go to the platform and become depressed? Researchers could not rule out that depressed people may be more likely to use social media in the first place, perhaps as an escape.

Age Appropriate Feel Better

Digging a little deeper, the scientists found that while older adults reported feeling more depressed after using TikTok and Snapchat, those under age 35 reported feeling more depressed if they used Facebook. Why would that be? One theory is that people feel more out of place by using social media that doesn’t match their age profile, leading them to feel out-of-sync.

So what can you do if you are feeling depressed? Simple. Tune in to the fun, informative, and "age-appropriate" Morning News on 1290 AM, Newstalk KIT, and follow our lead! We're not so sure where we're going but at least we'll all get there together in good company!