Now that I’m "Gamma," I am gaining a new perspective on aging. Between professional pressures, social norms, stereotypes, and those sticky, internalized beliefs, it isn’t easy being totally comfortable with aging. But, just as taking on the role of "parent" changed my perspectives (e.g., things I would have considered “social death” seemed OK once I had kids), being Gamma had stimulated some identity complexity as well. You can’t have all the riches of generational relationships without the passage of time. With each shift, I look for new ways of expanding my internal identity to relish the realities of aging, so I can enjoy the Gamma cuddles more and worry about wrinkles less.
Thus, I was intrigued by the rise of the age 50 “Granfluencers” (a portmanteau of Grandparent Influencer, as you likely guessed). They have taken to TikTok, the “young person’s app,” with considerable success. These seniors, mostly women, seem totally comfortable with themselves, whether they are being silly or serious, goofy or glam. They inspire me with something between courage and appreciation of their "who cares what anyone thinks" attitude. They are who they are without pretense or filters, and they're gaining millions of followers in the process. But I’m a Boomer. Why is GenZ flocking to these Granfluencers?
When Facebook first launched, pundits predicted that “old” people would never use it. Whatever their definition of “old,” they got it wrong. So wrong, in fact, that Facebook now has the stigma of being “for parents” and the percentage of teen users has dropped from 71% in 2014-2015 to 32% in 2022. Where did they go? For GenZ and Millennials, 95% use YouTube regularly and 67% go on TikTok (Vogels & Gelles-Watnick, 2023).
TikTok has gone far beyond teenage girls doing dance routines. The majority of TikTok users are young,........