Thank god for technology. One of the things keeping us sane during the lockdown is staying connected to our loved ones.

My 92-year-old grandmother, who used to be a texting wiz, has given up on her phone, saying her fingers just aren’t as good as they used to be. She refuses to switch to a smartphone, her home is an internet black hole, and so we’ve had to rely on good old phone conversations to stay in touch with her.

But that isn’t easy either because she doesn’t always like wearing her hearing aid. I miss her so much that I’ve actually started writing her letters. Yes, handwritten letters.

Meanwhile, my other grandparents, 76 and 82, are flourishing under the lockdown. They’re online 24/7, talking to friends and family on Messenger and FaceTime, watching Netflix, and, because religious gatherings are a no-no, they’ve stayed connected to their congregation by streaming live their Sunday services, daily prayers and intercession from home via Facebook Live, with my mother’s help.

“How can we do Zoom?” my grandma even asked me one afternoon.

The pandemic is really not the time to be a technophobe. We asked older people to share their journey with technology and tell us how (if) they’ve gotten over their fear of technology and what they love doing on the internet during the lockdown.

Pat Jardiniano, 83

I won’t call it tech phobia. It was the opposite. My desire to know how to reach friends on the internet was a more compelling reason to learn how to use the phone efficiently. Principally my grandchildren taught me first, but they are not as patient as the school nurse (she is my run-to when I am at work), and now, Judith our household help shows me many other shortcuts on the internet! She is a genius, I must confess! I turn to her now for all my internet and cell phone needs!

I go online for Facebook, curating pics, DIY videos, Google search for practically everything, for example: “Why does Chibby love licking my feet?” I loved Waze when we could go out, Online Rosary in traffic jams, Zoom and Messenger chats now, but no games for me.

Ruth R. Pimenta, 69

I don’t have technophobia and I try to learn more sa kakakulit sa mga anak ko. My sons and friends are a big help for me in exploring and learning to use the internet. I use Facebook, Messenger, YouTube, Google, Gmail.

Nestor Cuartero, 67

Glad I didn’t have technophobia though my knowledge is limited to functional level only. I am still afraid of touching any wrong key or command so I think twice before touching anything.

Learning how to use the computer was a necessity in the newsroom when it was introduced to us years back. Adopting what I learned from the computer came in handy when I had to study the workings of my first cell phone.

Of course, I am happy that my two children helped me along the way. They still do when I come across complex situations, such as when the device asks me to reply to a question that I am afraid might compromise me. I wish, however, that children would be more patient when their parents ask them questions about this and that in their devices.

I love doing Facebook, it keeps me entertained, amused and informed, maybe in that order. Is Messenger considered an app? I like it the most, with Viber. They allow me person-to-person communication, which I don’t want to lose in this age of high technology.

One of the best things I like about gadgeting is the window opened to movies, through Netflix. It’s the best way to beat this lockdown and the paranoia it has created.

Gisela Viloria, 63

I did have technophobia but I overcame it by reading and by using YouTube. When I got my first phone, my kids helped me figure out how to use it and I continued to learn from experience.

I learned to use the computer and internet at work and at times, I ask my children for help with the internet. I go online to do my work, chat with friends and do video calls. I use Facebook, Zoom, Skype, Viber, WhatsApp, Telegram and Windows programs used for work like Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

Yolanda M. Llamas, 69

If I don’t know, hindi ko pindot. I ask my daughter for help. I use Facebook, Messenger, Viber, I play Fishdom, Solitaire and Crossword, and watch videos on YouTube.

Olive B. Cello, 63

I learned to use my phone and the internet with the help of family and friends and exploring on my own. I use Google, Facebook, Messenger and I email, and my favorite apps are the online casino games.

Charlie A. Agatep, senior citizen

Yes, I used to fear technology and I still fear the sophisticated aspects of tech. But I asked my employees to help me whenever I faced difficulties with my computer and my iPhone.

Bob Zozobrado, too old to be techie

I initially had technophobia but I convinced myself to go with the flow if I have to continue living. My sons made sure I learned everything I needed to pull me through! I make sure I’m always visible on Facebook and updated on Instagram. I can’t do without my Exercise App, Viber and Spotify.

Ana Rodriguez, 68

I never had technophobia to the day I retired. ISM provided enough support that we could do what was required.

In today’s time, I want to learn how to do presentations to small groups including my grandchildren. I learned the most basic fundamentals of Zoom and screen sharing but as the weeks roll away from that first lesson in August, I know I’ll be in Step 1 again… wanting to learn and asking for help.

Help, this time around, comes from a group Educhild, whose commitment is to continue engaging parents in courses that strengthen their families and the communities they live and move around in. So from face-to-face small group meetings, we’re being trained to do this via Zoom and other platforms they will train us in.

I want to maximize what a Mac can do. They say it’s like our brain, we use only 30 percent of what it can do. I can’t do an Excel sheet beyond input, sums, freeze frames. So I probably use 3 percent of its potential. But necessity is the mother of invention. I have to create needs to force myself to learn more.

Internet? As long as I can connect the device (phone, tablet, laptop), I’m OK. I avoid using public Wi-Fi and only realized during lockdown how crucial it was to have a stable connection. For Masses, first. (We were going into Holy Week!). But after a few more weeks, I had to discipline myself to look at my devices only after dinner. Too much news was not helping my disposition.

I like to watch/browse/read sites I have “liked.” I don’t oversubscribe. But, coincidentally, I decided today, I will further reduce those sites as I cannot read ALL that come into my email (so it means my phone, too). It covers the few that need urgent or immediate replies.

One of my favorite apps is Facebook but not for posting. Can’t escape it especially nowadays when it’s the platform used to accommodate a larger number of people in an event. Messenger is a good way to reach people who are Facebook friends. Instagram because I follow certain sites that are uplifting, practical, instructional and helpful in more ways than I originally anticipated. Telegram, only because it is the only app my granddaughter is allowed to access. So we message a lot and she schedules our family rosary through this app. And I understand that if one sends photos, the size and quality is not compromised. Zoom, naturally.

Are Viber and WhatsApp included? I like it because you can send kilometric messages like this without a problem. Viber groups are useful but I dislike the cross postings of members who belong to many groups. I could get the same message five times!

Jones T. Campos, 67

Having been a telecom executive most of my life for Eastern Telecoms and Globe Telecom, I have no tech phobia whatsoever but I needed to be “tutored” by my younger staff on smartphones, computer apps and the internet. I enjoy dabbling on social media nowadays—Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Messenger, Viber, etc. I also like Apple TV, YouTube and Zoom.

Arsenio G. Bonifacio II, 76

Of course I still have technophobia because of all the hacking and cyberscams. I am just extra careful. I need to use the technology to do my work as a lawyer from home. I tried to learn how to use them myself but with a lot of help from my grandchildren. Email, Facebook/Messenger, I book Grab, watch NBA, Netflix. My favorite apps are email, Zoom, Iteams, Grab, Facebook/Messenger, NBA and Netflix.

Jingjing Romero, 67

To this day, I am a technophobe. This started with growing up as a child when my parents always told me and my siblings not to try or play or test with new appliances or gadgets. My ex-husband taught me to use the computer in the early ’80s when he brought home a Commodore 64 from the United States. He said he saved his allowance from a US travel grant to afford this personal computer.

My techie kids learned so fast, including my youngest son who was then four when his father bought him a second-hand personal computer (PC). He demanded his own PC time when he could hardly access his, his dad’s and siblings’ PCs.

Since the advent of mobile phones and more, my kids became my mentors. Even my kids from abroad are able to teach me online, by FaceTime or Zoom, when the two siblings here in the Philippines are unavailable.

Online, it is always reading the news first, then emails, then armchair research. My favorite apps are still online games like Scrabble and Words with Friends, work-related applications too and social media of course!

Mandy Navasero, 78

Technophobe? No I ain’t.

I was already gearing toward being a digital entrepreneur when the lockdown happened. The last book I sold was our “Reflections in Poetry,” a tiny coffee-table book with 78 haiku verses written by Clenia Dimanche to heal from her tragedy of losing her husband, a son and a daughter in a span of three years and a half, and 88 photos of nature taken from around the Philippines.

We have been in collaboration and since the pandemic I advised my son to take free webinars offered on the internet. He built our webpage Havenshelf.com from scratch. We have 3 ebook products so far.

I studied photography at the time we were using films and we processed our films in the darkroom and printed in black and white. It was difficult to shift but I must embrace the new technology, digital photography.

When the studio shifted to digital, we bought computers and the first who offered to teach me was Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc. I said no thank you. Fe Zamora when she drops by teaches me a bit here and there and advised me “pindot lang nang pindot hanggang makuha mo,” which I did.

Now I can do my emails, my Messenger, my Yahoo and I can do a bit of Photoshop. I learned from my secretary. Also filing photos in a folder. Wow. I still call on my son for help but it does not scare me because I can execute what I need to do.

I enjoy Facebook but I give myself time for it. I do not indulge. I love looking at pictures in full screen. I learn marketing via email.

For my tours of Batanes, South Cotobato and Dumaguete-Siquijor, I can sell on the internet. When we printed “Reflections in Poetry,” I used selling via Messenger. One Saturday, if I devote two hours, I am able to sell P50,000 worth of physical books. That’s the reason we founded Havenshelf.com and put together our ebooks. We enjoy putting words with my pictures.

But I have not mastered how to build traffic to my website so I am attending again webinars.