The portrayal of older Indians on YouTube

ABSTRACT

While traditional media portrayals of older people are widely documented, social media representations have not been adequately examined. This is an undesirable oversight considering the prominence of social media in contemporary times. Further, such representations remain markedly unexplored in the Indian context. Given India’s burgeoning population aging, the changing nature of Indian society, and the increasing use of social media, particularly YouTube which has the second largest user base among Indians, an analysis of the nature of portrayal of older persons on YouTube was deemed important. Through an inductive content analysis of 65 YouTube videos, we identified six primary categories and five sub-categories. These were – ‘A vulnerable population’ comprising three sub-categories the perils of old age, India is aging but do we care? and victims of crime and abuse; ‘A collective responsibility;’ ‘The Incredibles: stories of resilience and new beginnings;’ ‘Toward an elder-sensitive society’ encompassing two sub-categories namely gerontechnology and social initiatives and elder-friendly physical environment; ‘Healthy aging;’ and lastly ‘Productivity in old age: respect and economic compulsion.’ Broadly, our results revealed a far more differentiated, complex, and mixed portrayal of older people than early studies that found a predominantly negative portrayal. However, we also observed the potential for a greater, more balanced and heterogenous representation of the older Indian population on YouTube.

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful suggestions. The first author is a UGC-SRF and would like to thank the UGC for sponsoring her doctoral fellowship.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).