We Translate Data into Actionable Insights

The Data Innovation Group consists of top researchers and practitioners from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and the Lloyd's Register Foundation Institute for the Public Understanding of Risk, National University of Singapore

Highlights

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

Abstract: 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.
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Age Advocacy on Twitter over 12 years

Abstract: 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. 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. 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). 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.

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

Abstract: 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. We investigated the impact of cultural values and pandemic severity on Media Attention towards COVID-19 across 18 countries. 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. 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. 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.

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Ageism on Twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract: 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.

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A Playbook for Effective Age Advocacy on Twitter

Abstract: 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. 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. 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. 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.

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Not Too Old for TikTok: How Older Adults are Reframing Aging

Abstract: 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. We compiled the most viewed videos of users aged 60 and above with at least 100,000 followers, generating 1,382 videos with over 3.5 billion views. Videos which 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. 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). 11% involved older adults ‘Calling out Ageism’ (Theme 3). 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.

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Cohort profile: Singapore's Nationally Representative Retirement and Health Study with 5 waves over 10 years

Abstract: The Retirement and Health Study (RHS) is Singapore's largest nationally representative cohort with over 15,000 participants (aged 45-85years) followed across five timepoints in 10 years (2014 - 2024). Accounting for sample weights, the sample represents 1.2 million Singaporeans and permanent residents of a total population of 5.5 million. The RHS sought consent to link survey responses to relevant administrative data, enabling the cross-validation of self-reports with national databases. There are 10 sections in the RHS with over 400 questions, 50% of which are on respondents' physical and mental health, healthcare utilization and insurance; the remaining 50% are about employment history, retirement adequacy, wealth, and household expenditure. The RHS was set up to provide microdata to compliment administrative data for whole-of-government policy making given that Singapore will reach super-aged status by 2026. Sample findings include a need for older adults to balance between immediate financial needs and investments regarding their pension funds. Also, 86% of older adults preferred to transit into partial retirement by reducing workloads. On the health front, existing studies utilising the RHS have revealed latent classes of disabilities, and that intentions to seek employment can mitigate disability developments. Another study reported that physical disability and social isolation was projected to increase, with ethnic disparities in social functioning. Overall, the RHS will be used for evidenced-informed policy agenda setting and evaluation across domains of health, finance, retirement adequacy, social and family development.

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