Facebook as a site for negative age stereotypes.
| Publication Type | Academic Article |
| Authors | Levy B, Chung P, Bedford T, Navrazhina K |
| Journal | Gerontologist |
| Volume | 54 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pagination | 172-6 |
| Date Published | 02/07/2013 |
| ISSN | 1758-5341 |
| Keywords | Aging, Prejudice, Social Media, Stereotyping |
| Abstract | Ageism has been found to exist throughout a wide variety of societal institutions. Whether it also exists in social networking sites has not been previously considered. To explore this possibility, we conducted a content analysis of each publicly accessible Facebook group that concentrated on older individuals. The site "Descriptions" of the 84 groups, with a total of 25,489 members, were analyzed. The mean age category of the group creators was 20-29; all were younger than 60 years. Consistent with our hypothesis, the Descriptions of all but one of these groups focused on negative age stereotypes. Among these Descriptions, 74% excoriated older individuals, 27% infantilized them, and 37% advocated banning them from public activities, such as shopping. Facebook has the potential to break down barriers between generations; in practice, it may have erected new ones. |
| DOI | 10.1093/geront/gns194 |
| PubMed ID | 23392643 |