Yes, there are seniors on TikTok. However, according to popular opinion, the video sharing application would be an exclusive meeting point for the younger generations, those who have never known a world without the Internet. However, I only have to hang out on “QuébecTok” for a while in the evening to randomly come across numerous live broadcasts from seniors.
Published at 1:10 am. Updated at 8:00 a.m.
If we continue to repeat platitudes when it comes to TikTokers, perhaps it is because we view the platform as a space on the edge of “real” life, approaching the phenomena that thrive there without truly immersing ourselves in them. By making the digital engagement of our elders invisible, we neglect to talk about the crucial role they are expected to play in the future development of technologies.
TikTok is a social recommendation medium, meaning that unlike Facebook or even Instagram, the content presented to us comes primarily from an algorithm and not from pre-existing social relationships. That's why we generally consume videos from complete strangers. While browsing my recommendations page this winter, I came across a video by Gilles Cloutier, aka Gillou, 78 years old, a Quebecer from Beauharnois who quickly became one of my favorite creators.
Gillou created his account in 2020, during the pandemic. He very quickly started publishing videos and gradually became familiar with the application. Today, he posts daily humorous skits and more serious videos in which he candidly addresses various aspects of his life to his approximately 12,800 subscribers. He's obviously not the only elder on TikTok, but he's still my favorite. For example, many know Grandma Droniak, a 93-year-old American superstar who has more than 12.8 million subscribers. By sometimes falling into insolence, this connected grandma undermines the image of the gentle and quiet grandmother. Without denying the biological reality of her advanced age, she nevertheless deflects its meaning: getting older does not mean losing the sense of repartee or even the desire to seduce.
Grand influencers
Many “high influencers” espouse behaviors and tropes that we typically associate with young people. They make us laugh precisely because of the generational gap that separates them from the actions they reproduce on screen. If Grandma Droniak is funny, it's because we don't expect her to look good in a swimsuit or text one of her admirers.
Instead of caricaturing youth, Gillou offers content aimed squarely at aging people. “I get the impression that a lot of people who follow me are between 60 and 80 years old: single people, sick people, divorced people, people in mourning and whose spouses have died,” he told me.
When Gillou wants to make people laugh, he's all about bringing people together and making connections with people who can see themselves in the experiences he shares.
His community also appreciates the open and not always rosy picture he paints of their reality. For example, he addresses his loneliness, the relationship he has with his aging body, his wishes for the end of life and even his sexuality.
Some of Gillou's videos are also part of an autobiographical approach. For him, they represent a way to leave a mark: “If one day my granddaughter, who doesn't know I exist, wants to know who her grandfather was, she will be able to see my Tiktoks.” » However, it is not guaranteed , that the digital legacy Gillou is building passes into posterity as it is subject to the whims of a private, potentially ephemeral platform whose entire architecture seems designed to promote the present moment with little regard for the future, past and the preservation of a collective memory.
The phrase “digital dark ages” also refers to the loss of historical information associated with the precarious nature of our digital archives. As the technology we use changes rapidly, future generations may no longer be able to access what was created on the Internet before them. According to researcher Tamara Kneese, “the problem is that there is no clear mechanism that allows us to inherit our digital assets” (read in the Guardian), apart from perhaps a few Facebook settings that were announced after the shooting at Virginia Tech University were implemented. The tragedy then transformed the platform into a real place of contemplation, highlighting the urgency of rethinking our social media in light of our mortality.
Because technology is often developed by young people for young people, today's social media is not very inclusive and struggles to meet the specific needs of older people, who do not all have the same level of digital literacy. However, the aging population should, if anything, prompt us to rethink our platforms so that seniors are better represented and feel wanted, heard and listened to.