Advocating for Older Adults in the Age of Social Media: Strategies to Achieve Peak Engagement on Twitter.

Background: Over the last decade, many organizations dedicated to serving the needs and interests of older adults have turned to social media platforms, such as Twitter, subsequently rebranded X, to improve the visibility of age-related issues. However, notwithstanding their growing digital presence and participation, minimal attention has been paid to the use of social media among these advocacy groups. To achieve policy change, advocacy organizations must first be able to engage and mobilize audiences. Objective: Our study aims to elucidate how different tweet features affect the time it takes for posts uploaded by age advocacy organizations to reach peak engagement. Methods: We collated 204,905 tweets from 53 age advocacy organizations posted over a 12-year period. The engagement score of each tweet was calculated by combining well-established metrics, namely likes, retweets, quote tweets, and replies. We ran Cox models with tweet features as predictors and time-to-peak engagement as the outcome. "Peak engagement" (event) refers to engagement scores above the 75th percentile, and "time" refers to months taken to reach peak engagement per tweet. Results: Approximately 1 in 2 tweets (n=103,068, 50.3%) had either no hashtags or just 1 hashtag. Around two-thirds (n=131,220, 64%) of the tweets included a URL. Visual information was highly underused, with most tweets not including GIFs (n=204,202, 99.7%), videos (n=199,800, 97.5%), or photos (n=143,844, 70.2%). Roughly half (n=101,470, 49.5%) of the tweets contained mentions and 9.3% (n=19,009) of tweets were replies. Only 4.5% (n=9285) of tweets were quote tweets. Most tweets were uploaded in the afternoon (n=86,004, 42%) and on a weekday (n=180,499, 88.1%). As hypothesized, features associated with peak engagement were the inclusion of visual elements like photos, which increased peak engagement by 3 times (P<.001), and the use of 3 or more hashtags (P<.001). Quote tweets increased engagement by 3 times (P<.001), as compared to regular tweets, controlling for account-level covariates. Tweets from organizations with a higher tweet volume were 40% less likely to reach peak engagement (P<.001). Conclusions: Social media as a networked platform has the potential to reach users on a global scale and at an exponential speed. Having uncovered the features that are more likely to reach peak engagement on Twitter, our study serves as an invaluable resource for age advocacy organizations in their movement to create a more age-inclusive world.

News media coverage of LGBT identities over 10 years in a 400-million-word corpus.

BACKGROUND: This study is the first to analyze LGBT portrayals in a news media dataset over a decade (2010-2020). We selected Singapore as a country of interest, emblematic of a nation grappling with state-encouraged heteronormativity and a remnant colonial law against homosexuality (377A), fraught with calls for its repeal that was only enacted in 2022. Our study is interested in this period bookended by challenge and change, particularly in newspaper portrayals of LGBT narratives. Newspapers are an important source of current information and have the power to shape societal perceptions. We lay the groundwork and provide a framework to analyze news media narratives of other Commonwealth nations with colonial pasts and inherited laws criminalizing LGBT communities. OBJECTIVES: This study analyzes LGBT portrayals in a 400-million-word news media dataset over a decade (2010-2020). First, we aimed to track the volume of LGBT media coverage over time and elucidate differences in coverage of different identity markers. Second, we aimed to track sentiments on LGBT portrayals. Third, we aimed to track salient narratives circulated about LGBT stories. METHODS: The study leveraged a 400-million-word corpus from news media in Singapore, identifying the following target keywords: LGBT, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Pink Dot (a local Pride event), 377A. First, coverage volume was tracked using annual changes in keyword mentions per million, elucidating differences in coverage of different sub-groups. Second, sentiment analysis on a valence scale was conducted on LGBT collocates. Third, we distilled salient narratives about LGBT identities using thematic labelling of top-frequency collocates. RESULTS: First, overall coverage of LGBT steadily increased over the decade, though Gay identities evidenced asymmetrical coverage-outstripping 'Bisexual' keywords by seven times, 'Lesbian' by four, 'Transgender' by two. Second, sentiment scores for Pink Dot (a local pride event) were most positive; Lesbian, Gay, LGBT, Transgender were neutral; Bisexual and 377A dipped slightly negative. Third, topics differed across the four identities: uniquely, 'Lesbian' collocates related to sensationalized cinema; 'Gay' about hate crimes; 'Bisexual' about population surveys; 'Transgender' about challenges (transitioning, alienation, suicide). CONCLUSIONS: Practically, we presented a decade-long barometer of LGBT sentiments and themes on a national level, providing a framework to analyze media for more effective communication strategies-applicable to Commonwealth countries with similar inherited colonial laws. Salient repetition through media association may unwittingly frame certain issues negatively; caution is prudent in representing each sub-group adequately, rather than portraying the LGBT identity as monolithic.

Youth is Prized in Medicine, Old Age is Valued in Law: Analysis of Media Narratives Over 200 Years.

BACKGROUND: This is the first study to explore how age has influenced depictions of doctors and lawyers in the media over the course of 210 years, from 1810 to 2019. The media represents a significant platform for examining age stereotypes and possesses tremendous power to shape public opinion. Insights could be used to improve depictions of older professionals in the media. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to understand how age shapes the portrayals of doctors and lawyers. Specifically, it compares the difference in sentiments toward younger and older doctors as well as younger and older lawyers in the media over 210 years. METHODS: Leveraging a 600-million-word corpus of American media publications spanning 210 years, we compiled top descriptors (N=478,452) of nouns related to youth × occupation (eg, younger doctor or physician) and old age × occupation (eg, older lawyer or attorney). These descriptors were selected using well-established criteria including co-occurrence frequency and context relevance, and were rated on a Likert scale from 1 (very negative) to 5 (very positive). Sentiment scores were generated for "doctor/physician," "young(er) doctor/physician," "old(er) doctor/physician," "lawyer/attorney," "young(er) lawyer/attorney," and "old(er) lawyer/attorney." The scores were calculated per decade for 21 decades from 1810 to 2019. Topic modeling was conducted on the descriptors of each occupation in both the 1800s and 1900s using latent Dirichlet allocation. RESULTS: As hypothesized, the media placed a premium on youth in the medical profession, with portrayals of younger doctors becoming 10% more positive over 210 years, and those of older doctors becoming 1.4% more negative. Meanwhile, a premium was placed on old age in law. Positive portrayals of older lawyers increased by 22.6% over time, while those of younger lawyers experienced a 4.3% decrease. In the 1800s, narratives on younger doctors revolved around their participation in rural health care. In the 1900s, the focus shifted to their mastery of new medical technologies. There was no marked change in narratives surrounding older doctors from the 1800s to the 1900s, though less attention was paid to their skills in the 1900s. Narratives on younger lawyers in the 1800s referenced their limited experience. In the 1900s, there was more focus on courtroom affairs. In both the 1800s and 1900s, narratives on older lawyers emphasized their prestige, especially in the 1900s. CONCLUSIONS: Depending on the occupation, one's age may either be seen as an asset or a liability. Efforts must be expended to ensure that older professionals are recognized for their wealth of knowledge and skills. Failing to capitalize on the merits of an older workforce could ultimately be a grave disservice not only to older adults but to society in general.

Powerful tool or too powerful? Early public discourse about ChatGPT across 4 million tweets.

BACKGROUND: This paper investigates initial exuberance and emotions surrounding ChatGPT's first three months of launch (1 December 2022-1 March 2023). The impetus for studying active discussions surrounding its implications, fears, and opinions is motivated by its nascent popularity and potential to disrupt existing professions; compounded by its significance as a crucial inflexion point in history. Capturing the public zeitgeist on new innovations-much like the advent of the printing press, radio, newspapers, or the internet-provides a retrospective overview of public sentiments, common themes, and issues. OBJECTIVES: Since launch, few big data studies delved into initial public discourse surrounding the chatbot. This report firstly identifies highest-engagement issues and themes that generated the most interaction; secondly, identifies the highest-engaged keywords on both sides of the sentiment valence scale (positive and negative) associated with ChatGPT. METHODS: We interrogate a large twitter corpus (n = 4,251,662) of all publicly available English-language tweets containing the ChatGPT keyword. Our first research aim utilizes a prominent peaks model (upper-quartile significance threshold of prominence>20,000). Our second research aim utilized sentiment analysis to identify, week-on-week, highest-frequency negative, and positive keywords and emojis. RESULTS: Six prominent peaks were identified with the following themes: 'hype and hesitance', 'utility and misuse in professional and academic settings', 'demographic bias', 'philosophical thought experiments on morality' and 'artificial intelligence as a mirror of human knowledge'. Of high-frequency valence, negativity included credibility concerns, implicit bias, environmental ethics, employment rights of data annotators and programmers, the ethicality of neural network datasets. Positivity included excitement over application, especially in coding, as a creative tool, education, and personal productivity. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, sentiments and themes were double-edged, expressing excitement over this powerful new tool and wariness toward its potential for misuse.

#ProtectOurElders: Analysis of Tweets About Older Asian Americans and Anti-Asian Sentiments During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: A silver lining to the COVID-19 pandemic is that it cast a spotlight on a long-underserved group. The barrage of attacks against older Asian Americans during the crisis galvanized society into assisting them in various ways. On Twitter, now known as X, support for them coalesced around the hashtag #ProtectOurElders. To date, discourse surrounding older Asian Americans has escaped the attention of gerontologists-a gap we seek to fill. Our study serves as a reflection of the level of support that has been extended to older Asian Americans, even as it provides timely insights that will ultimately advance equity for them. OBJECTIVE: This study explores the kinds of discourse surrounding older Asian Americans during the COVID-19 crisis, specifically in relation to the surge in anti-Asian sentiments. The following questions guide this study: What types of discourse have emerged in relation to older adults in the Asian American community and the need to support them? How do age and race interact to shape these discourses? What are the implications of these discourses for older Asian Americans? METHODS: We retrieved tweets (N=6099) through 2 search queries. For the first query, we collated tweets with the hashtag #ProtectOurElders. For the second query, we collected tweets with an age-based term, for example, "elderly" or "old(er) adults(s)" and either the hashtag #StopAAPIHate or #StopAsianHate. Tweets were posted from January 1, 2020, to August 1, 2023. After applying the exclusion criteria, the final data set contained 994 tweets. Inductive and deductive approaches informed our qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: A total of 4 themes emerged, with 50.1% (498/994) of posts framing older Asian Americans as "vulnerable and in need of protection" (theme 1). Tweets in this theme either singled them out as a group in need of protection because of their vulnerable status or discussed initiatives aimed at safeguarding their well-being. Posts in theme 2 (309/994, 31%) positioned them as "heroic and resilient." Relevant tweets celebrated older Asian Americans for displaying tremendous strength in the face of attack or described them as individuals not to be trifled with. Tweets in theme 3 (102/994, 10.2%) depicted them as "immigrants who have made selfless contributions and sacrifices." Posts in this section referenced the immense sacrifices made by older Asian Americans as they migrated to the United States, as well as the systemic barriers they had to overcome. Posts in theme 4 (85/994, 8.5%) venerated older Asian Americans as "worthy of honor." CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 crisis had the unintended effect of garnering greater support for older Asian Americans. It is consequential that support be extended to this group not so much by virtue of their perceived vulnerability but more so in view of their boundless contributions and sacrifices.

Innovations for an Aging Society through the Lens of Patent Data.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: An aging population creates fertile ground for devising innovations for older adults. By using patents as a proxy for inventive activity, this study sets the stage for understanding the latest innovations being designed for the older population. Insights will pave the way for a better understanding of inventions that could render society more age-friendly on the innovation front. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: To identify the latest innovations targeted at the older population, we collected all patents (N = 326) issued in 2021, specifically those issued between January 5th and December 28th. Upon removing irrelevant data, 120 patents were retained in the data set. Both inductive and deductive modes of reasoning informed our content analysis of the data. RESULTS: Three themes surfaced. About half (49.2%) of the patents focused on "Preventive Health, Safety, and Independence" (Theme 1). About 38.3% pertained to "Anti-Aging" (Theme 2) and 12.5% were about the "Pathologization of Old Age" (Theme 3). DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: This is the first study that evaluates the state of innovations for an aging population. While there are inventions aimed at optimizing the well-being of older adults, there are also those designed due to beliefs that see old age as a problem to solve. As the world experiences a demographic shift, it is imperative that collective ingenuity be harnessed to build a society conducive to all facets of the aging experience.

Reframing Aging: Foregrounding Familial and Occupational Roles of Older Adults is Linked to Decreased Ageism Over Two Centuries.

As older individuals play instrumental roles in supporting their families and contributing to their workplaces, it is essential to understand how society perceives them in relation to these social roles. This study compares age-based (e.g. senior citizen), familial role-based (e.g. grandmother) and occupational role-based framing (e.g. old(er) doctor) of older adults over 210 years in the United States, and explores the sentiments and narratives associated with each type of framing. We created the largest historical corpus of American English - a 600-million-word-dataset comprising over 150,000 texts and spanning 210 years (1810-2019). Top descriptors (N = 135,659) of nouns related to age (e.g. senior citizen), familial roles (e.g. grandmother) and occupational roles (e.g. old(er) doctor) were compiled and rated for valence (negative-positive) on a 5-point scale. Age-based framing was associated with the most negative portrayals of older adults, specifically a 16% decline over 210 years. Foregrounding their familial roles buffered this negativity and resulted in a 4% decline. Occupational roles were associated with the most positive portrayals of older adults, increasing by 2% over the same period. Our findings underscore the need for society to unlearn any false and harmful beliefs surrounding older adults' abilities and contributions. We propose a strategy to reframe aging by de-emphasizing age and adopting a role-centric approach.

Videos about older adults on TikTok.

Besides being one of the fastest growing platforms since entering the social media fray in 2016, TikTok is notably monopolized by teenagers, which makes it a veritable source of information not to be overlooked by gerontologists. Currently, most studies regarding age stereotypes on social media have examined content on Twitter and Facebook. Our study explores how older adults are portrayed on TikTok and the factors associated with these portrayals. We analyzed 673 videos with the hashtags #Boomer and/or #OkBoomer that received over 5.4 billion views and categorized them into nine topics. Five of these topics (e.g., 'Warmth/Coldness') were extracted from previous studies on age stereotypes. The remaining four topics were unique to our dataset (e.g., 'Wealth Gap'). The outcome variable was 'Negative Age Stereotypes' which was rated on a binary scale. One in two videos about older adults featured negative content. As hypothesized, videos containing negative age stereotypes were more likely to be about the 'Values and Beliefs of Older Adults' (7 times), 'Negative Encounters with Older Adults' (8 times) or 'Older Adults Antagonizing the Young' (13 times). Conversely, videos which portrayed older adults as 'Warm' were 43% less likely to contain negative stereotypes. As the phenomenon of an aging population fast unfolds, it is imperative that society relinquishes its tendency to stereotype individuals on the grounds of age. By examining the possible mechanisms driving negative stereotypes of older adults on TikTok, our study provides the basis upon which such stereotypes can be counteracted. In doing so, it paves the way both to improve the well-being of older persons and to foster intergenerational solidarity.

Does Age Matter? Tweets About Gerontocracy in the United States.

OBJECTIVES: Discussions on the political scene in the United States have been accompanied by the notion that the country has morphed into a gerontocracy, a system of governance where power is wielded predominantly by older individuals. With rising life expectancy, more as well as older candidates are likely to run for and stay in office. This study analyzes perceptions regarding the older political leadership of the United States. METHODS: We collected 3,599 tweets containing the word "gerontocracy" which were uploaded between September 10, 2022 and November 10, 2022, a month prior to the midterm elections in the United States, when this topic was likely to have sparked considerable discussion. After applying our exclusion criteria, 1,266 tweets were retained. Our qualitative content analysis was performed inductively and deductively. RESULTS: Seven themes emerged. Most tweets (24%; N = 304) highlighted that "Gerontocracy is a Problem" (Theme 1). Theme 2 (21%) focused on how "Democracy is a Sham" (N = 270). Theme 3 (19%) positioned "Old Age as the Problem and Youth as the Solution" (N = 234). Theme 4 (11%) was about how "The Future is at Stake" (N = 145). "Health Concerns" dominated Theme 5 (10%; N = 126). Theme 6 looked at "Structural Reforms" (9%, N = 115). Theme 7 "In Defense of the Gerontocracy" formed 6% of the data set (N = 72). DISCUSSION: Attitudes toward older politicians are commonly tied to negative stereotypes surrounding old age. As the population ages, it is paramount that society focuses on potentially more important considerations in the evaluation of the actual caliber of a politician.

Communicating Risk Perceptions Through Batik Art.

This Arts and Medicine essay describes creation of a batik art installation titled Risktalk, illustrating trends in mentions of public health and non-health risk-related topics in popular written media from 1810 to 2009.

Portrayals of older adults in over 3000 films around the world.

BACKGROUND: Presently, most film analyses related to older adults are peculiar to American cinema. However, film industries outside the United States are influential in their own right. As ageism is a pan-cultural phenomenon, it is important to explore filmic representations of older persons globally. This study is the first to offer a portrait of how filmic portrayals of older persons differ across regions. METHODS: We leveraged a 200-million-word movie corpus comprising over 25,000 scripts from 88 countries in 11 regions. The movies span a period of nearly 90 years, from 1930 to 2018. We identified synonyms of "older adult(s)" and compiled the top descriptors that co-occurred most frequently with them. Seventeen thousand five hundred and eight descriptors were generated from 3384 movies. Using these descriptors, we calculated the valence of filmic portrayals of older adults on a scale of 1 (most negative) to 5 (most positive) in each region. RESULTS: Positive representations of older adults in movies were lacking in all 11 regions. Four regions fell into the neutral zone and the remaining seven in the negative zone. Representations of older persons were the least negative in East Asia and South Asia, and most negative in Southeast Asia as well as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Our topic modeling revealed that older adults were portrayed as venerable in both South and East Asia. Meanwhile, older people were associated with death in MENA. The idea that society is ill-equipped to handle an aging population was hinted at in Southeast Asia. CONCLUSIONS: As societies worldwide navigate a major demographic turning point, it is vital that filmmakers rethink portrayals of old age. In articulating the filmic narratives surrounding old age in different regions, our study lays the foundation to combat ageism on the big screen.

Impact of Old Age on an Occupation's Image Over 210 Years: An Age Premium for Doctors, Lawyers, and Soldiers.

As older adults continue to contribute to the labor force, it is critical that perceptions of them reflect these contributions. We explore whether portraying older adults based on their occupational roles instead of their age is linked to more positive sentiments and test the possibility of an age premium. We created the largest historical corpus of American English-a 600-million-word dataset with over 150,000 texts-spanning 210 years (1810-2019). Top descriptors (N = 675,213) of nouns related to age, occupation, and age × occupation over 21 decades were compiled and rated for valence (negative-positive) on a 5-point scale. Occupational role-based framing was associated with more positive portrayals than age-based framing. Positive portrayals of older lawyers increased by 22.6% over 210 years. Older doctors (-1.4%) and older soldiers (-10.7%) experienced a decline in positive portrayals, though sentiments toward older doctors, lawyers, and soldiers remained more positive than those toward older adults.

Granfluencers on TikTok: Factors linked to positive self-portrayals of older adults on social media.

Lately, there have been news reports on the rise of older content creators on various social media outlets. However, while journalists have picked up on this topic, scholars have been slow to accord it any attention. Our study delves into this topic and looks at how older TikTokers' self-perceptions of aging are expressed in their videos. Specifically, we analyze the valence of the content of these videos and factors associated with older adults' self-presentations. TikTok has only gone from strength to strength since its global launch in 2017. Even as stay-at-home orders and safe distancing protocols amid the COVID-19 pandemic have led to a dramatic increase in the consumption of media across various platforms, TikTok stands out among its rivals in terms of growth and user activity. Given its wide reach, content on TikTok has the potential to influence public opinion. We collated 1,382 videos created by TikTokers aged 60 and above with at least 100,000 followers. These videos amassed over 3.5 billion views. Following previous studies, three raters coded each video for valence (negative-neutral-positive). We found that women created twice as many videos as men. The middle-old group (ages 75-84) created more videos than the young-old and oldest-old groups. Positive videos outnumbered negative ones by 10 times. As hypothesized, themes linked to positive self-portrayals were 'physical functioning' (p < .001) and 'social interaction' (p < .001). Conversely, 'cognitive functioning' (p < .001) evidenced a negative association, controlling for age and gender of the user. This is one of the first studies on older adults' self-portrayals of aging on TikTok. Our findings suggest that older adults tend to portray themselves positively across various domains on the application. If used purposefully, TikTok may serve as a promising platform for improving public perceptions of old age.

Media attention toward COVID-19 across 18 countries: The influence of cultural values and pandemic severity.

BACKGROUND: Current media studies of COVID-19 devote asymmetrical attention to social media, in contrast, newspapers have received comparatively less attention. Newspapers are an integral source of current information-that are syndicated and amplified by social media to a wide global audience. This is the first-known study to investigate the impact of cultural values and pandemic severity on media attention towards COVID-19. Findings lay the groundwork for targeted public health communications that are culturally nuanced. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the impact of cultural values and pandemic severity on Media Attention towards COVID-19 across 18 countries. METHODS: We tracked the global volume of COVID-19 coverage (to measure media attention) over 8 months in a news media database of 12 billion words with 30 million articles from over 7,000 news media sites. Predictors of Media Attention towards COVID-19 came from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (incidence and mortality) and Hofstede's Cultural Values. RESULTS: Media attention toward COVID-19 increased 55 times over 8 months. Higher rates of new cases and deaths predicted this exponential increase. Countries with higher power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation, were associated with increased media attention, controlling for covariates. CONCLUSIONS: Cultural values play a significant role in the news media's attention toward COVID-19, controlling for pandemic severity. We provided a framework to design targeted public health communications that are culturally nuanced.

Age Advocacy on Twitter over 12 years.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Discussions on age-related issues have begun taking place in earnest, but exactly what dominates public consciousness about these issues is a topic that has yet to kindle scholarly attention. This study analyzes tweets uploaded by age advocacy organizations that have attracted the highest levels of engagement on Twitter. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We collected 403,426 tweets from 53 accounts. These tweets were posted over 12 years from 2009 to 2021. After applying our exclusion criteria and collating the top 1% of tweets with the highest levels of engagement, 2,054 tweets were retained for analysis. Both inductive and deductive approaches informed our qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Five themes emerged. 'Issues Related to Alzheimer's Disease or Dementia' (Theme 1) formed the majority of tweets (62%; N=1,278). Theme 2 'Rising Health Care or Retirement Costs' was the second largest theme (25%; N=506). 7% of the tweets were on 'Reframing Aging and Combating Ageism' (Theme 3; N=138). 'Matters Affecting Caregivers' surfaced in Theme 4 (4%; N=81). 2% of the tweets were on 'Intersectional Concerns' (Theme 5; N=51). DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: As age advocacy organizations step up to engage the public constructively in matters regarding later life, there is a compelling need to quell public anxiety about old age and to sensitize society to the struggles confronted by older adults. In undertaking the range of activities needed to do so, age advocacy organizations should consolidate efforts even as they rethink existing strategies to effectuate change.

Ageism on Twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 crisis has sparked a resurgence of scholarly interest in the issue of ageism. Whether the outbreak thwarts or facilitates efforts to combat ageism hinges upon public sentiments toward the older demographic. This study aims to explore discourse surrounding older adults by analyzing 183,179 related tweets posted during the COVID-19 pandemic from February to December 2020. Overall, sentiments toward older adults became significantly less negative over time, being the least negative in April, August, and October, though the score remained below the neutral value throughout the 11 months. Our topic modelling analysis generated four themes: "The Need to Protect Older Adults" (41%), "Vulnerability and Mortality" (36%), "Failure of Political Leadership" (12%), and "Resilience" (11%). These findings indicate nascent support for older adults, though attempts to show solidarity may well worsen benevolent ageism.

A playbook for effective age advocacy on Twitter.

BACKGROUND: Central to raising awareness of ageism are advocacy organizations dedicated to serving the needs and interests of older adults. Although many of these organizations have cultivated an online presence, inquiry into the effectiveness of age advocacy work on social media remains an untapped area. Our foray into this topic explores how different tweet features predict the level of engagement of posts uploaded by age advocacy organizations on Twitter. METHODS: Tweets (N = 403,426) were collected from 53 accounts and spanned 12 years from July 2009 to October 2021. After applying our exclusion criteria, 204,905 tweets were retained for analysis. We analyzed the tweet features (predictors) and engagement level (outcome variable) using a linear mixed-effects model. RESULTS: Tweets with higher engagement are those with a URL, with at least three hashtags, with visuals (GIF, photo, or video), which are quote tweets, and which are posted in the evening or at night Central Standard Time (CST), adjusting for account-level variables (e.g., follower count). Conversely, tweets with more than one mention, which are replies and which are uploaded in the morning are associated with lower engagement. CONCLUSION: The rise of digital media means that advocates have the opportunity to communicate their messages to reach a critical mass. This is the first known study to offer an evidence-informed playbook for age advocacy organizations to optimize outreach efforts by maximizing online engagement. These results represent a crucial step in ongoing efforts to tackle ageism, an issue that has long been under-discussed.

Not Too Old for TikTok: How Older Adults Are Reframing Aging.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Although reputed for being the virtual playground of teenagers, TikTok has since made its way to older adults, some of whom have become content creators with millions of followers. Despite their immense sway over audiences, as well as their potential to reconfigure socially constructed notions of aging, these older TikTok personalities have been given scant attention in gerontological literature. We fill this gap by exploring how older adults use TikTok to engage in discourses on old age. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We compiled the most viewed videos of users aged 60 and older with at least 100,000 followers, generating 1,382 videos with over 3.5 billion views. Videos that did not feature older adults engaging in discourses on aging were excluded, resulting in 348 videos for content analysis. Both inductive and deductive approaches guided the qualitative analysis. RESULTS: Three themes emerged: Nearly 3 in 4 videos featured older adults "Defying Age Stereotypes" (71%; Theme 1), 18% featured them "Making Light of Age-Related Vulnerabilities" (Theme 2), and 11% involved older adults "Calling out Ageism" (Theme 3). DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: This is the first known study exploring how older adults consciously engage in discourses of aging through their participation on TikTok. Our findings highlight the potential for older adults to be put at the vanguard of a movement aimed at challenging socially constructed notions of old age.

The development of empathy in the healthcare setting: a qualitative approach.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare professionals' empathetic behaviors have been known to lead to higher satisfaction levels and produce better health outcomes for patients. However, empathy could decrease over time especially during training and clinical practice. This study explored factors that contributed to the development of empathy in the healthcare setting. Findings could be used to improve the effectiveness and sustainability of empathy training. METHOD: A qualitative approach, informed by aspects of grounded theory, was utilized to identify factors that enabled the development of empathy from the perspectives of doctors, nurses, allied healthcare workers and students. Twelve sessions of focus group discussions were conducted with 60 participants from two hospitals, a medical school, and a nursing school. Data was analyzed independently by three investigators who later corroborated to refine the codes, subthemes, and themes. Factors which influence the development of empathy were identified and categorized. This formed the basis of the creation of a tentative theory of empathy development for the healthcare setting. RESULTS: The authors identified various personal (e.g. inherent characteristics, physiological and mental states, professional identity) and external (e.g. work environment, life experience, situational stressors) factors that affected the development of empathy. These could be further categorized into three groups based on the stability of their impact on the individuals' empathy state, contributed by high, medium, or low stability factors. Findings suggest empathy is more trait-like and stable in nature but is also susceptible to fluctuation depending on the circumstances faced by healthcare professionals. Interventions targeting medium and low stability factors could potentially promote the development of empathy in the clinical setting. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding factors that impact the development of empathy allows us to develop measures that could be implemented during training or at the workplace leading to improve the quality of care and higher clinical work satisfaction.

Hostility Toward Baby Boomers on TikTok.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The recent entry of the hashtag #OkBoomer into social media vernacular underscores the collective frustration of younger people with a group whose views they find increasingly incompatible with theirs. Most social media analyses in gerontology focus on the content on Twitter and Facebook, with content on TikTok virtually unexplored. Given the burgeoning popularity of TikTok among younger people, we assess the content of TikTok videos with the hashtags #OkBoomer or #Boomer to distill the undercurrents of hostility expressed by younger people toward Baby Boomers. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We collated TikTok videos (N = 332) with the hashtags #OkBoomer or #Boomer, which received over 5.4 billion views. Both inductive and deductive approaches guided the qualitative content analysis of the videos. RESULTS: Five themes emerged. Most videos (79%) described "Negative Encounters with Baby Boomers" (Theme 1); 58% were about "Conflicting Values/Beliefs between Baby Boomers and Younger People" (Theme 2); 39% were about "Baby Boomers Antagonizing Younger Generations" (Theme 3); 22% of the videos made references to the "Karen Meme" (Theme 4); and 7% bemoaned the existence of a "Wealth Gap" between Baby Boomers and younger people (Theme 5). DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Findings reveal that the usage of the hashtags #OkBoomer and #Boomer is highly nuanced, at times explicitly ageist, and at others, emblematic of a phenomenon far more complex than ageism. There is a need to leverage social media as a space to foster interaction between older and younger people. Society is ultimately well served by intergenerational interaction.