Virtual Val - A Social Media Queen At 90!

She’s the Tech-savvy Great-granny who loves life pnline.

- Fleur Guthrie

She goes by the user name HiTechVal on social media and can hashtag with the best of them.

Proving you’re never too old to learn new skills, Val Heffer may well be New Zealand’s most tech-savvy 90-year-old, giving teenagers a run for their money with all the hours she spends on her phone.

But she’ll tell you it’s all in the name of supporting her son, high-profile businessman Tenby Powell, in his race to become mayor of Tauranga at next month’s local body elections.

In fact, the great-granny gives a long chortle when asked if she’s Tenby’s unofficial social media manager.

“Very unofficial!” she tells the Weekly down the phone from her home in Mount Maunganui.

Every morning, Val reads the newspaper online, checks her Facebook notifications, then retweets or posts any political commentary associated with her son’s campaign.

She doesn’t go on photosharing platform Instagram as much (“I can’t bear selfies, I think they’re awful!”) and while she’s not afraid to share her opinions, Val prides herself on not responding to anyone who writes a criticism.

“I don’t think that’s helpful at all. I only reply to the positive comments,” she says, adding that she usually spends around three hours a day online.

“But I admit I’ve been on it a lot more since my son’s mayoral campaign began. We’re very close and both of us are very positive in our outlook on life. If you’re not, you can be dragged down and that’s no good at all. Politics is a funny old game, so it’ll be interesting to see how it unfolds.”