Tuesday, May 13, 2025

What are some of the best ways to introduce my mother (born 1961) to Reddit and have her start her own Reddit account?

 

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What are some of the best ways to introduce my mother (born 1961) to Reddit and have her start her own Reddit account?

A lot of you are late Boomers (Generation Jones) just like her, so how do I give her the best possible introduction to this fabled social bookmarking site and motivate her to get her own account?

I think she'd be pretty interested in finding out what I post from this account, by the way.

 

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[–]70 somethinghedronist 15 points  

And don't forget to unsubscribe her from any even slightly questionable subs that are set by default.

[–]5footfilly 17 points  

Born in 1961 doesn’t make her feeble. Or easily shocked. She can probably decide on her own what subs she needs to block.

Born in 61 she’s seen some shit. Trust me.

Born in 61.

[–]60 somethingDerekL1963 10 points  

Born in '63 and if I had kids, I;'d be f\cking pissed* if one of them took it upon themselves to moderate what I read.

That being said, the disinformation rabbit hole on Reddit is a thing that exists.

[–]RogueThneed 5 points  

Born in '62. I told my mom about Reddit, and I told her that if she heard from anyone about what a shithole Reddit is, that they were right. I continued with "But you don't have to read the shithole parts. Totally easy to avoid."

[–]60 somethingDerekL1963 1 point  

Yeah... Reddit's reputation as a shithole is pretty widespread and not entirely undeserved, especially if you see the shit that goes down in larger/more popular subs. But the specialist/tight focused/more obscure subs are an entirely different story.

[–]Turbulent-Purple8627 1 point  

I'm relatively new to Reddit, and I never heard it was a hellscape. I haven't had problems, and I LOVE the exchange of ideas.

[–]DaddysStormyPrincess 6 points  

OMG

Born in 1954…. I joined all by myself. I did not need any help from my 30 yr old son

I must be a UNICORN!!

[–]70 somethingLast-Radish-9684 3 points  

If you're a unicorn, then I guess I am, too! Born in '53, and got here like almost everyone else-I found topics I was interested in, looked around, and stayed.

[–]Additional_Yak8332 3 points  

1958 here. I had to hobble to my flip phone with my walker but I eventually figured it out after fishing the phone out of my jello. 🙄

[–]NegotiationWarm3334[🍰] 2 points  

I was born on December 11th 1963, just three weeks after my dad and my then very pregnant (with me!) mother got stuck for six hours trying to get through Dallas downtown traffic headed to East Texas for my mom's brother's wedding later just after Kennedy was assassinated a few blocks from where they were. So yeah, people our age can certainly handle "some shit."

[–]60 somethingOriginalIronDan 2 points  

61 here, too. Try to gatekeep me, and you’re getting a size 12 in the ass. OP, hook her up with funny subs, creepy subs; whatever she likes. She’ll eventually explore and find her own way. I got on here because I got fed up with the politics on FB.

[–]Turbulent-Purple8627 1 point  

I was born in 1956 and can hold my own on social media since the beginning. My Mom was born 1928. When she was 91, I got her on social media, and once she got the hang of it, she loved it.

I introduced her to FB and showed her how to find people she knows. She gets to see what everyone is up to, along with pictures. I also got her an Instagram, and she loved all the dancing videos from around the world. She was in her right mind until she passed in 22. She really enjoyed these accounts, and because she hates Orange Monster as much as the rest of us 97%, so I wasn't worried she would go down a rabbit hole. Your mom is probably the same.

[–]tracyinge 6 points  

Does the town where she lives have a decent local subreddit? I think that's how I got interested, someone told me they saw this on reddit or that on reddit, something local that I was interested in.

So that, then introduce her to subs that she might have an interest in. Cooking or her favorite tv show or something nostalgic/ old music or whatever.

[–]Gen XBCCommieTrash 2 points  

Local subs really is my best use case for Reddit.

[–]60 somethingHead_Razzmatazz7174 2 points  

That's how I got started. I had a question about my job, and Reddit had the answer. Then I started seeing suggested subs, so I looked at them. After a time, I created my own account, because I wanted to add a comment on something I was interested in.

It just sort of snowballed from there. I found out that Reddit users, for the most part, have the most accurate information and some of the funniest things out there. It reminds me a lot of the old Chat Cafe sites, although it's not quite as immediate.

It's not nearly as bad as I thought it was, but you do have to watch out for users and subs that are seriously out there (depending on what your interests are).

[–]OlGusnCuss 2 points  

Really depends on the topic. There is a ton of shitty advice on reddit. I would get her in line with her favorite hobby/interests.

[–]70 somethingOwn-Animator-7526 1 point  

Every time she asks a question or wants to know something, tell her to look it up on Reddit.

With all due respect that is terrible, terrible, terrible, advice.

Reddit may be part of the mix, but it's crazy to make it your go-to.

[–]Lurkerque 1 point  

I find that the good advice generally outweighs the bad. Also, a certain amount of common sense must also be applied.

[–][deleted] 3 points  

Hmmmm.

I was born in 61. Wtf has she been doing the last 30 years? I help 20 year olds figure out how to use their iphones and computers and most everyone I know my age is far more technically knowledgeable than average since we started using most of this stuff in the very beginning.

That said, Reddit is the last place I would sign a newbie up for. This is nothing but AI shitshow.

[–]SkipMapudding 1 point  

Made me laugh when my husband’s daughter was talking to husband’s aunt (she’d have been around 86) speaking about keeping in touch with family. His daughter said, “You can do this thing where you use your mobile to speak to them and actually see them.” Husband’s aunt looked her and said, “It’s called FaceTime” and I use it all the time. Very funny.

[–]BKowalewski 2 points  

My son just went and did it for me 5 yrs ago. He told me I would enjoy it. I wouldn't have had the first clue on how to do it myself. So just do it all for her

[–]Beginning-North7202 2 points  

Generation Jones subred will have her happily strolling down memory lane

[–]RudeRooster00 2 points  

Generation Jones? WTF

[–]60 somethingJustGoodSense 1 point  

I know, right? We're not Boomers or GenX. Everything Millenials and Zoomers love today was originally made for us (Doctor Who/Star Trek/Wednesday Addams/Scooby Doo/Star Wars/Marvel heroes/Punk Rock and Goth/etc.etc.). We were too young for Woodstock and too old for Lollapalooza. We're a little cusp cohort who are truly the greatest of all generations ... and we get saddled with a stupid garbage name like "Generation Jones." Fuck marketing demographers.

[–]RudeRooster00 1 point  

Actually in my demographics class in grad school, the argued that gen x reall started in 60 or 61 due to the cultural changes of the space program and emerging media tech.

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[–]wiscosherm 1 point  

Give your mom a guided tour of Reddit. Show her subreddits related to interests and hobbies she has. Introduce her to some of the more fun ones like Dad jokes.

I'm a boomer. Reddit became really useful for me around the time I was close to retirement. I was able to get good information from people going through the same things I was. Reddit has now become an embarrassing habit. I love some of the snarkier subreddits, and there are others related to hobbies and activities I do that are helpful. .

[–]RogueThneed 1 point  

I was born in 1962. I think I first got into Reddit for Tales from Retail (until it was too depressing because people can be SO RUDE to each other - and I'm talking the tale subjects, not the redditors). From there it was Tales from Tech Support because funny, and then I think it was cat pictures. So Many Cat Picture Subs. Now it's knitting and MurderBot. Oh, and Cooking Circle Jerk and I Am Very Culinary, because I do like some snark in my life. And my regional subs for local news and freecycling.

[–]Generation JonesPoeJam 1 point  

r/GenerationJones

r/40yearsago

r/ClassicRock

r/FuckImOld

Along with any hobbies she may have, there's also a sub for almost every TV show.

[–]70 somethingLast-Radish-9684 1 point  

You could start her right here. She might like answering the "old people" questions. If she has a crafting bent, there are lots of patterns, examples, and question/answer groups. Other interests might be show fandoms like "Severance" or "Only Murders in the Building", or books (either genres or specific authors or their trilogys).

Pick one she finds interesting, and she'll explore on her own. I don't think she will need your help.

[–]popejohnsmith 3 points  

Just look at the Trump re-election...

[–]steved3604 0 points  

Really don't like your mother, uh? Wait, probably don't want to ever have another conversation with her.

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