Author Archives: Hui Wen

Hui is a PhD candidate in anthropology at Brandeis University. Her current research explores aging, care, and social transformation in China, with a focus on the health supplements market for seniors. She works across medical anthropology, economic anthropology, and STS.
Person in turquoise sweater and knit hat sitting on a chair using a mobile phone, with traditional Chinese wooden architecture and signage in the background.

“I Just Want to Be Happy!”: Singing, Scrolling, and Healing in a Chinese Senior’s Digital Life

Once considered a funny truth, Douglas Adams’s “three rules of technology” now feels increasingly outdated—especially his claim that any technology introduced after age 35 is against the natural order of things and therefore threatening. Today, millions of older adults who had little prior exposure to digital tools are not only using technology, but actively embracing the new worlds it opens up. (read more...)