Elders are using TikTok to defy age-old stereotypes, research finds

Elders are using TikTok to defy age-old stereotypes, research finds

(Web Desk) - Older TikTok users are using the online platform, which is considered the virtual playground of teenagers, to defy ageist stereotypes of elderly people as technophobic and vulnerable.

Research has found that the number of accounts with millions of followers from users age 60 and older is increasing. Using the platform to showcase their energy and vivacity, these TikTok elders are rewriting the expectations of how older people should behave both on and off social media.

Dr Ruben Ng, author of the Not Too Old paper, said, “These TikTok elders have turned successful content creators into a powerful cultural counter-cultural phenomenon, in which older individuals actually embrace or even embrace the stereotypes of old age. that celebrate their aged status.” For TikTok: How Older Adults Are Reframing Aging, and is an assistant professor at Yale University.

Interestingly, Ng said, most TikTokers are elderly women, who “vehemently oppose common stereotypes of older women as passive, gentle and weak, rather than portraying themselves as brash or dishonest.” Present,” he said.

The immense reach of these old TikTok users means they have the potential to change the negative age stereotypes that pervade social media.

“There is considerable evidence that ageist stereotypes are prevalent among youth on social media,” Ng said. These biases reached an all-time high during the COVID pandemic, during which the deadly virus was labeled a “boomer remover”.

“The strength of anti-age bias means that older adults’ participation in social media is critical in ensuring that such ageist views are not challenged,” said Ng, who is published in the journal Gerontologist.

The paper looked at 1,382 videos posted by TikTok users who were 60 or older and had between 100,000 and 5.3 million followers. In all, his videos, all of which explicitly discussed his age, garnered over 3.5 billion views.

Ng found that 71% of these videos – including videos from accounts such as granddadjo1933, which has 5.3 million followers, and dolly_broadway, which has 2.4 million followers – were used to defy age stereotypes. A recurring motif was “Glama”, a portmanteau mixing “glamorous” and “Grandma”, which featured videos of a 70-year-old woman happily parading the streets in a midriff-bearing top.

Nearly one in five of the videos analyzed highlighted age-related vulnerabilities, and one in 10 invoked ageism among both young people and their own contemporaries. Other videos ranked older users as superior to younger ones. One clip says, “I may be 86 but I can still drink lighter than you.” “I may be 86, but I can still twerk better than you,” says another, showing an octogenarian leaping down stairs with a twerk.

A Pew Research Center analysis finds a remarkable uptake of technology by older Americans during recent years: in 2000, 14% of people aged 65 and over were Internet users; In 2019, it was 73%. Only half of adults had a smartphone in 2014, with 81% of those aged 60 to 69 having a smartphone today.

Emma Twining, Director of Communications at the Center for Aging Better, said: “We need to look at more diverse portrayals if we really want to change attitudes and remove negative perceptions of growing up. Social media can do that and more generally. But it is an ideal platform to remove ageism.”

Rest Less Chief Executive Stuart Lewis said TikTok was the ideal platform for mid-life influencers to take to the stage and defy age stereotypes. “The makers are encouraged to be original, raw and unedited – making this the ideal soap box you can stand on if you want a place to shun stereotypes and be your uncensored self. “

Professor Fiona Gillison of the Healthy Later Living Network at the University of Bath, who is working on challenging stereotypes about aging, said the study was important. But she adds: “There’s a balance to be had in challenging stereotypes about aging, as well as acknowledging that as we get older, we want different things from younger people, and accepting that that our interests and abilities may change.”

Ultimately, she said, people need to “remove the stigma of needing to adjust with age, while also challenging perceptions that can accompany these. Having a hearing aid, for example, can mean that we are ‘fragile’ in other ways.” ‘ or ‘incapacitated’.”