Victims of ageism, it is common to categorize the elderly population as vulnerable and not very well versed in technology. However, more and more TikTok accounts of Internet users aged 60 and over are trying to prove the opposite and are enjoying amazing success on the platform, according to a study.
Grandadjoe1933, Nonnapiaa, its_j_dog… these are all examples of senior accounts with over a million followers. The goal is the same for everyone: show their dynamism and embrace aging, whether through humor, cooking, or activities.
As the older population grows compared to younger groups, their visibility and representation on social media becomes more important.we mentioned in the study conducted by Drs. Reuben Ng and Nicole Indranpar.
An article on this research, entitled Not Too Old for TikTok: How Adults Reflect Aging (Not too old for TikTok: How old is redefining age), was published by Oxford University Press on May 5th.
The study focused on 1,382 videos posted by TikTok users over 60 years old with 100,000 to 5.3 million subscriptions. At the time of publishing their article, all the videos had accumulated 3.5 billion views on the platform, a property of Chinese company ByteDance.
The research team determined that the older generation is experiencing strong growth in the app, which is particularly popular with young people, who face, among other things, dance challenges.
Data collected for the study found that nearly three-quarters of their video content was dedicated to challenge age stereotypes.
@grandadjoe1933 I’m just lucky I’m still here ☺️
♬ Love Me More – Sam Smith
Older women, for example, appear there as fierce, yet rugged in the videos they created, far from the stereotype of the soft and weak elder, according to Dr. Reuben Ng. We also see them parking on the street to show off their clothes, for example, a practice called glammed up in TikTok, a word taken from potion at Lola.
It’s a pendulum swing for the 60-plus group, which isn’t often the subject of glowing comments on social networks, according to the doctor.
Our study demonstrates the potential for seniors to lead a movement to challenge the ideas developed by the society of old age through the use of social media.ends the article.
Source: Radio-Canada
