Geriatric1927 on Silver Surfers
Friday, March 5, 2010 at 16:56 Early this week, I was very excited to have the opportunity to meet up with 82 year old YouTuber Peter Oakley, aka Geriatric1927, a true online celebrity with more than eight million views to his name. You can read about my meeting with him in our previous post, Lunch with a YouTube Legend: Geriatric1927. During our meeting we had a very interesting discussion about how brands can communicate with silver surfers online, and his views on driving and the elderly.
How Brands Can Communicate with Silver Surfers
To begin, I ask Peter whether brands should be giving older people access to services and opportunities online, or whether it’s not appropriate for the older age group. Peter’s response is that though there aren’t as many older people online as there could be, ‘for those that are comfortable using the internet, it’s good that they are starting to have these choices, because they could make life easier’. So, if a brand is offering a service online, what is the best way for them to help older people to discover and use that service? He points out that while older people may be comfortable with what they know online, ‘anything different will start to introduce a Fear Factor – so brands must make sure they can communicate the way the service is to be used simply and clearly ... a good way to do this is through a simple and straightforward how to video, with large clear screen images so that the steps can be followed simply, one at a time. Using online video automatically filters the audience down to only those people who are already comfortable using the internet, and therefore are unlikely to be confused by the content, as long as it is straightforward’.
A Case In Point from the DVLA
‘This is a five star example’, Peter says, explaining that although the video is complex enough to intimidate people who aren’t already online, ‘it is practical and does a very good job of showing clearly and simply how to go about the process for people who are already using the internet’.
Driving for the Elderly
The DVLA video leads the conversation on to a discussion about driving for the elderly, where Peter explains that he thinks it important to stop and think about your driving ability as you get older, and asking people to renew licenses at seventy is a great way to get people to do this. ‘When I reached seventy, I decided to take an advanced driving test to confirm that my reactions were as good as I thought, and that I wouldn’t be endangering anyone on the roads’ he continues. While he believes most, like him, know their limitations and will set their own restrictions (such as not driving in the dark or the fog), there will be some who aren’t competent – and ‘if you’re not willing to put yourself to the test, perhaps someone else should be appointed to test you’.
Interestingly, Peter also contrasted the inability of the old with the inexperience of the young: ‘shouldn’t something also be being done about the much more dangerous 17-20 age group? In biking,’ (another of Peter’s passions) ‘size restrictions are placed on motorbikes for younger drivers – perhaps something like this should be introduced for driving’? In fact, the Institute of Advanced Motorists say that the 8% of UK drivers over 70 were involved in just 4% of all injury accidents, while the 15% of drivers in their teens and twenties accounted for 34%.
Peter is glad that the DVLA is giving people an opportunity to renew their driving license at 70, because he believes that driving is, for the elderly, an almost essential tool. He says, ‘many older people live in villages where there is poor public transport and aren’t lucky enough to have family members or friends on hand to take them around. Thousands of people’s lives would be made very much poorer if they were not able to drive’.
DVLA, Geriatric1927, brands, silver surfers, video 
Reader Comments (3)
While the DVLA is spot on and has a place in this world there is hesitation in me that there might be more negative effects if an elderly person were to be given the chance to be on the road again.
Very intriguing article. Had me realize I was entirely inaccurate about this content. I suppose one learns something different daily. I like your blog. Will be back really soon!
Driving at 70 is not a problem at all as long as the eye vision and reaction time is still tolerable, I do believe that elder drivers are far more responsible than young teen age driver, since teen age driver tend to play the car and driving fast without thinking if they are on the right track and follows the road traffic rules, so technology such online process in renewing license is a great help for the elder for them not to line up standing in long and winding line