The rules of texting and social media keep changing — what older adults should know

(Aging Untold) — If you are more used to phone calls and handwritten notes than texts and group chats, you might feel a bit like you are out of the loop. There are unwritten rules about what to share, when to reply and who to trust, and the Aging Untold experts are walking you through them. The rules are hard to find, and they keep changing Amy O’Rourke, an aging expert, said she recently ran into the new rules herself. “I got a text from my godson and he shamed me for the length of the text that I sent him,” O’Rourke said. “OK, so there’s rules out there, and I don’t know what they are.” She pointed to Emily Post and Miss Manners as places to find up-to-date information on the rules. The rules have never stood still, gerontologist “Sam” Cradduck said. “The reality is the rules have always been changing. They’re fluid,” Cradduck said. “They’re different from the 20s to the 30s to the 40s to the 50s.” Handshakes meant something. Scammers are counting on that. Dr. Rhea Rogers, a board-ce