Abstract
As social media platforms mature, their user base is simultaneously aging, with older adults now representing the fastest-growing demographic of users. Despite persistent myths contrasting “digital natives” with “clueless seniors,” empirical evidence demonstrates that socioeconomic status, rather than age, is the primary driver of digital inequality. The study, design, and regulation of social media must undergo a paradigm shift to embrace older adults as active, vital participants. Market self-regulation has failed to address critical issues like privacy and interoperability and thus deliberate government intervention is needed to ensure user autonomy and data portability. To fulfill its potential, the social media ecosystem must “wise up,” abandoning ageist tropes and recognizing older adults not as passive victims, but as capable users, valuable support sources, and essential stakeholders in technology design.
Older adults have become the fastest-growing segment of social media users, which necessitates a shift in research, corporate strategy, and public policy. Despite the persistence of “clueless senior” stereotypes, evidence indicates that socioeconomic status is a stronger predictor of digital skills than age. Clinging to generational myths about users harms everyone, as it overlooks the potential for older adults to act as knowledgeable support sources and active participants in technology design while also shortchanging younger generations by not recognizing their support needs. Addressing critical issues like privacy and data portability cannot be left to market self-regulation; instead, government policy must actively enforce transparency and interoperability. For social media to become “wise,” it must abandon the false dichotomy between so-called “digital natives” and “digital immigrants” and treat older adults as vital, active users who often have more resources to devote to technology than their younger counterparts.
Social media has been around for decades, which, especially in internet terms, puts it in the rubric of older technologies. It has also aged in another way: an increasing portion of its users comes from older age groups. While society tends to shun anything older, it would be foolish to ignore online services that billions of people around the globe use daily. We thus believe that the study of social media is as relevant today as it was when Zizi Papacharissi cleverly founded
In our book
Holding onto wrong generational assumptions about how people use technology shortchanges everybody. First, taking for granted that all young adults know what they are doing when using various online services results in a lack of focus on such demographics when it comes to offering support services. Second, believing that those with more life experience have nothing to offer in the realm of technologies misses the opportunity of them acting as support sources for others, even though research shows that they are more than happy to help, and many have more time than their younger counterparts to do so (Hunsaker et al., 2020).
Clearer still is that the link between skills and socioeconomic status is stronger than the link between skills and age. Education level is often a more important correlate of how well people understand and use technologies than age is (Hargittai et al., 2026), but this is something the media rarely discuss beyond the tired old trope of digital access divides. Of course, recognizing that those who are more privileged have more digital opportunities is a more complicated story than the “clueless seniors” narrative that remains widespread. Perhaps it is no surprise then that the media so often leans into such description (Editorial, 2024; Ménard et al., 2025). Yet, research on digital inequality across time and national contexts has repeatedly shown that lower socioeconomic status is the true barrier to informed usage rather than age, so scholarship of all kinds needs to catch up with this reality rather than leaving it solely to digital inequality scholars.
Solutions to the complicated issues concerning social media use cannot be left up to users to fix. Technology companies and public policy must wise up and offer options that put the user first. For example, privacy is of major concern to both young and old, yet allowing the market to regulate itself has led to little by way of privacy protection. Similarly, users have very few options when it comes to moving their content from one platform to another. Since the providers of such services have not taken interoperability seriously, it is time for the government to play a more active role. This should not mean regulating uses; rather, it should result in people having more options for what data are collected about them, by whom, for what purposes, and how users can get these purged or move them elsewhere if they prefer.
Public rhetoric about so-called digital natives and digital immigrants persists, pitting them against each other. Yet research shows that many of the issues with digital media that people in later years face are similar to those with which people at any age struggle (e.g., safety, security, privacy, social connectedness, wellbeing). Wising up requires abandoning the myth that older adults are technologically incompetent—as well as the myth that all young people are born digitally literate, for that matter.
While adoption rates for younger generations have plateaued near saturation, older users are expanding their uses. They represent the fastest-growing segment of technology users, with smartphone ownership among Americans over 60 jumping from 13% to 61% in the past decade (Faverio, 2022). This is not a population that is online merely by accident or out of necessity. It is a diverse, active population that uses digital tools not only for distraction but also to maintain high functioning through continuing education and deep social engagement—whether local or global or both—that is critical for their health and wellbeing. Importantly, older adults are the most likely demographic to have discretionary income, so it would be a smart business strategy for companies to incorporate the needs and perspectives of this demographic into their technology planning.
A mature, wise social media ecosystem requires deliberate intervention, including by the state. Policymakers should consider mandating interoperability so users can vote with their feet, enforcing transparency to combat the cynicism of the “privacy paradox”—the tension between people expressing privacy concerns while sharing their data, something they all but need to consent to doing to be able to operate in the digital world (Brown, 2001). Since social media has grown old, it is time for it to stop acting like a confused teenager and start serving the growing needs of a society that is aging alongside it.
We cannot and should not treat older adults as passive recipients of technology or victims in waiting. They are active, vital participants who require platforms designed for autonomy, safety, and genuine connection. Older adults have a role to play in the design of social media alongside their growing usage of them. Social media has grown old; it is also time for it and researchers studying it to grow wise.
Footnotes
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Data availability statement
Not applicable.