Age-appropriate training will help seniors do daily tasks and avoid misinformation

Canadian seniors haven't been the focus of many digital media literacy initiatives, despite being a rising population demographic — more than 7.5 million Canadians are aged 65 and over — and an increasing presence online.

According to Statistics Canada,  are regularly on social media,  are on the web generally. 

But with more everyday tasks requiring digital fluency and misinformation swirling online â€” and given the influence this cohort wields â€” experts say older adults want and need more digital literacy education and support.

'Benevolent ageism' widens digital divide

Common generalizations that adults 65 and older are hopeless with new technology or particularly gullible against online misinformation serve only to increase the digital divide between seniors and other demographics, according to .

Too many people have a mentality of benevolent ageism — a notion that seniors aren't knowledgeable, require hand-holding or need things done for them, explained Balyasnikova, an assistant professor at Toronto's 91ŃÇÉ«. 

Older adults are, in fact, eager to embrace digital tools when they're provided with the right training and support, she said, adding that seniors are often ignored in adult education programming.

Immigrant seniors, a group that Balyasnikova and Ahn have worked with, in particular, are completely invisible,  she said.

Some educational programming for this segment can be quite infantilizing as well, Balyasnikova noted.

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Occurring in tandem with the COVID-19 pandemic, another crisis was quietly escalating and unnoticed by many — characterized by an overload of information, much of it misleading or false. Though concerns of an infodemic started before this time, and can occur with any issue or event, the phenomenon has become so widespread that the term was included into Merriam-Webster’s 2020 list of “.”

Indeed, since the onset of COVID-19, the public has been exposed to an overwhelming amount of information, often contradictory, about the virus, basic health and safety protocols, efficiency of vaccines, conspiracy theories and exaggerated sensationalist news clips.

Amid this chaos, a common stereotype emerged, painting older adults as in the infodemic. This narrative, however, does not recognize the complexity of the issue and unjustly labels a group that, in reality, can demonstrate a remarkable desire to be engaged in navigating the media landscape.

As we progress through the , a global initiative aiming to improve the lives of older people and their communities, we are prompted to reevaluate our perspectives on media literacy practices of older adults.

Natalia Balyasnikova, an assistant professor of Adult Education at 91ŃÇÉ«, writes about an infodemic characterized by an overload of information, much of it misleading or false, which was quietly escalating in tandem with the COVID-19 pandemic. A common stereotype emerged, painting older adults as primary actors for the spread of misinformation online in the infodemic. "We need to combat the agist stereotype that older adults are simply victims of the infodemic or passive consumers of digital media," said Balyasnikova and co-author.

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