#Aging: Mono-representation in Aging Content on Social Media

Abstract

Social media platforms like Instagram have a significant impact on how old age and aging are socially constructed.1-3 These online environments reproduce assumptions spanning race, disability, gender, and perceptions on age, socioeconomic status and health, and often the intersection of these social constructs.3 While social media has rapidly increased awareness of social issues, online content about aging remains largely monochromatic and monolithic, often promoting an image of aging that is white and female.4

In this brief we consider the current “picture” of aging content and put it in relation to other forms of socially intersectional issues in aging.