For many, turning back the clock on their age would be a wish-come-true. However a Michigan grandmother has requested Facebook to do just the opposite. Marguerite Joseph, a 104-year-old Facebook user, is listed on Facebook as merely a 99-year-old due to a hiccup in Facebook’s registration process. Born in 1908, Facebook alters her birth year to 1928 when she attempts to register. Having joined Facebook when she was 102, Ms. Johnson’s age has been listed as 99 for two years now.
Centenarians on Facebook
Despite being 104 years old, however, Ms. Johnson is not the oldest Facebook member. In fact, California’s Edythe Kirchaier has Ms. Johnson beat by a few months and is currently 105 years old. Two of the few over-100 year olds on Facebook, both Ms. Kirchaier and Ms. Johnson nevertheless have attracted attention from Facebook for their age and registration glitch.
Facebook responds
In response to this two women’s extraordinary problem, Ms. Johnson messaged Facebook and received a reply acknowledging this anomaly. Facebook stated, “We’ve recently discovered an issue whereby some Facebook users may be unable to enter a birthday before 1910. We are working on a fix for this and we apologize for the inconvenience.” Considering that when Ms. Johnson was 17 before the first transatlantic telephone call was made, the rich, instant, global connectivity that Facebook provides certainly gives her good reason to be active on Facebook. And, hopefully other centenarians are able to fully boast about their longevity on Facebook soon as well. I mean, as any centenarian can tell you, saying that you are 99 just doesn’t have the same ring to it!
