Credits: Social Media
How a ‘Technological Grandmother’ accidentally became one of the internet’s most viral memes
The internet is full of ancient memes that continue to go viral many years on. One of them is ‘Technological Grandmother’ – a picture of a grandma with short blonde hair and glasses who is scrolling on a touch screen phone with her index finger.
It often goes viral with captions like “Did you make sure to take two pictures so you can send one to me?” which are intended to mock elderly people not knowing how to use technology – but this one was never supposed to be a meme at all.
‘Technological Grandma’ meme
The grandmother in the meme is called Ana Mar�a Rodr�guez, and its her grandson who accidentally turned her into a meme.
He spoke to NPR’s Spanish-language podcast Radio Ambulante this week and shared the story behind the viral image.
His grandmother is an 85-year-old Uruguayan housewife, whom he calls Bia, and the story starts 15 years ago when the family gifted her a tablet for her 70th birthday.
They thought she wouldn’t use it, but it turned out to be a huge success and she learned how to send emails, subscribe to newsletters, watch movies, read news and play games.
In June 2014, the former president of Uruguay Tabar� V�zquez then promised to give a free tablet to all retirees to promote the digital inclusion of all citizens.
At that time, Bia’s grandson worked for a Uruguayan newspaper�and decided to report on the use of tablets in senior citizens.
He interviewed his grandmother for the story, taking two journalists to her house and capturing the photo which would soon accidentally go viral.
It took over the internet
The picture was featured on the front page of the newspaper and a little while after the story was published, she became internet famous.
Her grandson went to the club one day and a girl said to him “You’re on YouTube and they say you make $1,000 a day” – which wasn’t true.
However, that’s when he realised the picture of his Bia had gone totally viral, and the memes continue to amuse him today.
He recalled one that says “On Instagram seeing what you all did last night” and another that adds: “Me at 7am answering all the messages on WhatsApp from the previous day because at 9pm I’m already falling asleep.
Dark side of the meme
However, many media outlets, online betting sites and misinformation sites used the picture without permission, which still angers him to this day.
“I found the picture in more than 50 news outlets from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, Spain and even Switzerland without the proper credit,” he said.
“It was even published on the official website of the Mexican government, the Consortium of State Universities of Chile and a nursing home in Costa Rica.”
There were some negative posts too, including one calling her a “vieja pituca,” which is a derogatory term used to describe upper-class people.
He still feels guilty for giving a platform to the photo in the first place and has never posted a photo of his young children on social media since then.
“What started as an ask for a work-related favor one decade ago ended up with my grandmother losing control of her own likeness,” he said. “It’s hard to see someone you love be this vulnerable.”
