Occurring in tandem with the COVID-19 pandemic, another crisis was quietly escalating and unnoticed by many — an infodemic 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 “words we are watching.”
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 primary actors for the spread of misinformation online 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 United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing, 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 York University, 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.