Headline, September 05 2026/ TRENDING : ''' YOUR GRANDFATHER YOND '''

TRENDING :

''' YOUR GRANDFATHER YOND '''

PROFILE : HERDECKE, GERMANY TRENDING ON 'SOCIAL MEDIA' :

''YOUR GRANDFATHER.''

WHAT'S GEN Z UP TO ? An 89 year-old TikTok star wants to find out. At 88, Werner Kalecinski wanted to try something new..

For months, as he took care of his ailing wife, he felt his own vigor wane. He needed to work. He had held many jobs in his long life - scavenging scrap metal, doing electrical work and selling insurance and frozen food.

NOW, in the age of social media, he wanted to give TikTok a try even if he didn't understand it. '' I thought 'influencer' was cold,'' Mr. Kalecinski, now 89, said, stretching the vowels so that the word sounded '' influenza.''

These are exactly the kind of quips that have turned Mr. Kalecinski into a beloved TikTok star in Germany. He is part of a growing cast of elder influencers who have gained traction among much younger users.

Their content ranges from the fashion videos known as '' Get Ready With Me '' to motivational messages offering advice.

Mr. Kalecinski's character, Opa Werner or Grandpa Werner, has embraced juvenile humor and has built a following on trying out what Germany's young people are up to. Audiences love his taste-test videos, watching him grimace as he goes from one coffee shop to the next.

He has yet to find a matcha latte he likes. He once compared the taste of the trendy green beverage to a freshly mowed lawn.

His online persona of affable curmudgeon who uses Gen Z slang to complain about the cost of lattes, has drawn almost 200,000 followers and 2.8 million likes.

Mr. Kalecinski may hate the taste of matcha lattes but his fans say his thirst for life is infectious.

'' You always know he's not going to like it, and he always calls it weird things,'' said Szymon Zurawski, a 19-year-old fan, who patiently waited outside a Dusseldorf coffee shop to take a selfie with the TikToker.

'' Younger people often try to adapt to older people when they're spending time with them, but in his case, he tries to understand the younger generation.''

Amin Anbousi, 26, was a social media veteran when he discovered Mr. Kalecinski in April 2025. For years, Mr. Anbousi has made a name for himself as a teenage YouTuber, but in his early 20s, he decided it was time to go behind the camera and tap into the lucrative industry that social media has generated.

Scrolling for an idea, he noticed that older people were trending on social media, so Mr. Anbousi set out to create the next grandfluencers.

When looking for his stars, Mr. Anbousi didn't have to look very far : His own mother, Heike Hepperle, turned out to be funny on camera, playing the role of a bewildered but enthusiastic pensioner.

Ms. Hepperle, 64, a retired nurse, encouraged her wisecracking friend, Mr. Kalecinski, to audition.

Mr. Kalecinski stood out among more than 150 auditions with an email about why he deserved a shot at internet fame.

His application, written in Gen Z slang, was a winner. Slang is spoken, not written, and definitely not used by an octogenarian, Mr. Anbousi said, recalling the email.

'' I thought he was crazy, in a positive way,'' he said. '' The sound of the email was so special, I couldn't ignore it.'' It also helped, he added, that Mr. Kalecinski could navigate a follow-up video call.

When Mr. Kalecinski sat down to write that humorous email, he was trying to overcome the latest tragedy in his life : the death of his wife. In the twilight of their 66-year-marriage, illness has calcified his wife's personality into the opposite of his, Mr. Kalecinski said.

She had become pessimistic and critical, and caring for her in her final days had taken an emotional toll.

'' I don't even know what happened to her,'' he said. '' I tried to break free a little, so that I wasn't completely submerged.''

The Honour and Serving of the Latest Global Operational Research on Social Media, Trends, and Gen Z, continues. Lynsey Chutel.

With most loving and respectful dedication to all the grandmothers and grandfathers of the world, and then Students, Professors and Teachers.

See You all prepare for the great '' Constitutional Democratic Convention '' on The World Students Society - the exclusive and eternal ownership of every student in the world - : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter X !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011 :

Good Night and God Bless

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