Old Adults Are More Engaged on Facebook, Especially in Politics: Evidence From Users in 46 Countries

12 Pages Posted: 8 May 2021

See all articles by Pablo Ortellado

Pablo Ortellado

University of São Paulo (USP)

Márcio Moretto Ribeiro

University of São Paulo (USP) - School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities (EACH)

Gabriel Kessler

Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM)

Gabriel Vommaro

Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM)

Juan Carlos Rodriguez-Raga

Universidad de los Andes, Colombia

Juan Pablo Luna

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Eduarth Heinen

University of São Paulo (USP)

Laura Fernanda Cely

Universidad de los Andes, Colombia

Sergio Toro

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: May 4, 2021

Abstract

Evidence is emerging that old adults share more disinformation online and are more politically polarized. Based on the Facebook Privacy-Protected Full URLs Data Set, a vast Facebook database with demographic information of those who saw and shared links on Facebook in 46 countries, we investigated the impact of age on link-sharing activity. We found that in 45 of 46 countries, the average age of people who shared links was considerably higher than the age of those who saw the links. In a more detailed study, with 82% of Facebook users residing in South America, we found that the average age increases consecutively in the sharing of non-political content, in the sharing of political content and in the sharing of partisan sites.

Keywords: social media, old age

Suggested Citation

Ortellado, Pablo and Moretto Ribeiro, Márcio and Kessler, Gabriel and Vommaro, Gabriel and Rodriguez-Raga, Juan Carlos and Luna, Juan Pablo and Heinen, Eduarth and Cely, Laura Fernanda and Toro, Sergio, Old Adults Are More Engaged on Facebook, Especially in Politics: Evidence From Users in 46 Countries (May 4, 2021). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3839688 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3839688

Pablo Ortellado (Contact Author)

University of São Paulo (USP) ( email )

Av. Prof. Luciano Gualberto 380
Sao Paulo, 05508-010
Brazil

Márcio Moretto Ribeiro

University of São Paulo (USP) - School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities (EACH) ( email )

Av. Arlindo Bettio, 1000
Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo 03828000
Brazil

HOME PAGE: http://monitordigital.org

Gabriel Kessler

Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM) ( email )

25 de Mayo y Francia
C.P. 1650
San Martín, Prov. de Buenos Aires
Argentina

Gabriel Vommaro

Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM) ( email )

25 de Mayo y Francia
C.P. 1650
San Martín, Prov. de Buenos Aires
Argentina

Juan Carlos Rodriguez-Raga

Universidad de los Andes, Colombia ( email )

Carrera Primera # 18A-12
Bogota, DC D.C. 110311
Colombia

Juan Pablo Luna

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile ( email )

Ave. Vicuna Mackenna 4860, Macul
Santiago
Chile

Eduarth Heinen

University of São Paulo (USP) ( email )

Rua Luciano Gualberto, 315
São Paulo, São Paulo 14800-901
Brazil

Laura Fernanda Cely

Universidad de los Andes, Colombia ( email )

Carrera Primera # 18A-12
Bogota, DC D.C. 110311
Colombia

Sergio Toro

affiliation not provided to SSRN

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