PSeveral academic studies have concluded that people over 65 are among the people who read and share the most fake news on social networks, up to 7 times more than 18-29 year olds.
We don’t really know the reasons. It’s even counter-intuitive because, at that age, you’re experienced, and you might think you’re less naive than a “young kid”. Researchers have nevertheless put forward hypotheses to explain it.
The first possible reason would be something generational. Most of the over 65s have grown up and lived in a world where sources of information were limited. Basically, you had the choice between the newspaper, the TV or the radio, which gave and always give globally reliable information. And that, whatever you do, it leaves traces: older people trust a source of information more easily, as long as the form looks a bit professional. Well-presented information will seem to them quite easily reliable. It is also a generation that is less aware of digital tools and will perhaps detect a retouched photo a little less easily, for example.
Fake news, somewhere, creates a link. As we age, we tend to have our social network shrink. And the Internet, at this level, remains a good way to have discussions, contacts, even if they are virtual. So there are a lot of people in their 60s – and beyond – who are very active, especially on Facebook.
However, by sharing fake news, you will be put in contact, via algorithms, with people who have shared similar information. And there, it’s a vicious circle, you will be bombarded more and more with false information, which you will share more and more. At this point, there is another danger, which is to become completely conspiratorial, that is to say, to become hypercritical, paranoid, to no longer believe in anything or anyone. Sometimes it can go so far as to cut you off from your loved ones, who don’t believe in the same thing as you..