Rex Redstone, 85, of Peterborough, England, might be the oldest man on Instagram. He is a self-proclaimed Instagram-pa.
Redstone is on a mission to post his old photos and encourage other seniors to do the same. Rex refers to himself as the ‘Instagram-pa’ and Photography Blog claims he is the oldest person in United Kingdom on Instagram.
Instagram says there is no way of confirming if he is the oldest person in the world on the social network.
His use of hash tags is pretty special.
In his younger days, he kind of looked like Dennis Leary in The Sandlot.
Rex has already gained thousands of followers even though he has only posted 19 pictures. A photo of him as a young ‘badass’ was the first, of what he intends to be ‘many, many grams’.
According to www.photographyblog.com, the oldest known ‘Instagrammer’ in the UK has started a movement to get the elderly to create digital photo legacies on the social photo community.
He wanted to be able to share photos of his life online with family and friends. After seeking help and advice, he teamed up with Barclays Digital Eagles to start posting on Instagram. He is now encouraging other elderly people including his friends to share and showcase their own rich histories in Instagram timelines. He is sharing photos from as far back as the 1920s through to present day
Rex, a digitally curious Grandpa from Peterborough and an avid Facebook fan, decided he wanted to share his life online on Instagram, rather than let his album collections gather dust in the attic. His family, some of who live in Australia, his friends and the online community can all now see some of his memories dating back to the 1920s, helping bring the young and old together online.
‘Instagram-pa’ Rex said, “I was born in 1928 in an era which was very different to now. We didn’t have all the technology which my grandchildren have grown up with – the radio is as good as it got! But over time, my wife May and I have got to grips with the basics.
Alongside photos from his childhood, Rex has shared historical moments in his and his local town’s history – from the old piano tuner shop where he worked when he was 14, the bands he played guitar in in Peterborough, the time where he got wounded whilst serving in the Armed Forces, through to having the honour of becoming the county’s Bowls Chairman.
‘Instagrampa’ Rex concludes “I hadn’t quite realised just how many hundreds of pictures we’ve collected over the years, and looking back has been very nostalgic for us.