If you consider all of the times that you may have lied about your age, I bet the list would not include the time that you tried to join a social network.
For Anna Stoehr, who recently celebrated her 114th birthday, there was no other way to open a Facebook account than to lie about her status as one of the world’s oldest people.
Tech-savvy centenarian had to lie about her age to join Facebook
When Stoehr attempted to join the hordes of existing Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) users, she found that the site’s date-of-birth options only extended back to 1905. Only by turning back the hands of time was Minnesota’s oldest resident able to sign up, telling Mark Zuckerberg’s boys that was in fact 99 years old.
Stoehr’s interest in technology began when she struck up a friendship with Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) salesman Joseph Ramireza, who sold her 85-year old son an iPhone. According to Minneapolis KARE-11, Ramireza was astounded that his client’s mother was 114 years old.
Since the pair met, Ramireza has taught Stoehr how to Facetime, Google and Facebook, as 99-year-old version of herself, of course.
Tech for the older generations
Stoehr has company in the senior citizens social media collective. Rex Redstone is one of Instagram’s oldest users at 85 years of age. Stoehr may have just replaced 106 year old Edythe Kirchmaier, who was previously known as the world’s oldest registered Facebook user.
After a recent controversy involving the need to use your legal name to hold a Facebook account, a group of transsexual performers moved from Facebook to Ello, adding to the buzz around the new social network. You have to wonder whether Ello will now be marketing itself as a haven for tech-mad centenarians who find themselves shut out by Facebook’s draconian personal information policy.
Stoehr has since written to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, informing him, “I’m still here.” Will Zuckerberg respond in order to prevent another public relations diaster?
