Every time another obviously AI-generated photo—say, a baby holding a prayer card or a monkey grilling fish—gets reshared, younger people often joke, “Hiwalay dapat ang Facebook ng mga matatanda.”
(There should be a separate Facebook for older people.)
While the internet bridges generations, it also exposes a digital divide with real consequences, ranging from harmless oversharing to dangerous disinformation. This is not just about “cringeworthy” posts; it is about how older generations were left behind in the rush toward digital fluency—and why that neglect should matter to everyone.
Instead of mocking the elderly for falling behind, it’s time we start helping them catch up. Digital illiteracy among older Filipinos isn’t just a generational quirk—it’s a public issue that demands empathy, education, and policy.
Unlike the older generations, Gen Z and Millennials grew up with access to the internet and learned its rules, whether through school or socializing. The same cannot be said for older generations who, while initially hesitant, eventually jumped on the social media train long after it left the station. Often, they are left to navigate its perplexities without guidance or a clear understanding of platform mechanics, privacy, or etiquette.
These older users possess little to no Media and Information Literacy (MIL), making them especially vulnerable to online scams, misinformation, and Generative AI (Gen AI) content. And with the development of Gen AI, this has only made things murkier. One viral example features a young boy who supposedly painted a lifelike portrait of his mother. While most younger users quickly flagged it as fake, older adults reshared the image with heartfelt captions and genuine admiration. To some, this was hilarious—a generational prank played by algorithms.
But not all content is so benign.
Since the elderly often take at face value whatever appears on their feed, from “miracle” drugs, outrageous diet plans, quick-cash scams, to speculative conspiracy theories and AI-manipulated videos that appear deceptively real. For those unequipped to distinguish fact from fabrication, the consequences can be devastating.
When misinformation spreads unchecked, trust in institutions weakens, families argue over what’s true, and public health and social efforts suffer. In one way or another, we will all fall victim to its spillover effect as social trust erodes when unchecked information circulates.
Such concerns became especially urgent during the COVID-19 pandemic, when older people had no choice but to rely on new forms of media for updates and information. My father, like many others, turned to the internet in a time of panic. He became convinced that Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug, could prevent or cure COVID-19. Even when his sister, a licensed physician, explained that it had no proven effect, he persisted in his belief. When I eventually caught COVID, he handed me several Ivermectin pills, which I pretended to take, secretly setting them aside. That moment was not just about medicine; it reflected the widening gap between how generations process and trust information online.
We cannot keep blaming the elderly for falling for hoaxes and propaganda when no one taught them how to see through it. They were thrown into the digital world without a map, left to fend for themselves in a maze designed by and for younger generations. We say we want them to “stay offline,” but that impulse only gags them instead of guiding them.
As the younger generation, we carry a responsibility to help our elders. They once taught us how to navigate the world; the least we can do now is help them navigate the web. MIL should not just be taught in schools. In truth, it’s the older generations, who are more trusting of media and less exposed to digital skepticism, who need it the most. And yet, they’re often the last to receive it.
Still, empathy and individual efforts are not enough. Public and private institutions must invest in MIL programs designed specifically for older adults, while social media platforms like Meta must restore the strong fact-checking policies they once proudly upheld. Digital ignorance is not a personal failure—it is a societal oversight.
Yes, it’s tempting to laugh at ignorant posts or “boomer takes,” but shaming doesn’t help. Respect does. Instead of pushing our elders away from the digital world, let’s help them make sense of it.
If we truly want an informed society, we must stop treating digital literacy as a youth privilege and start seeing it as a civic right. The goal isn’t to silence the elderly—it’s to empower them. Guide, not gag.
This article was published in The LaSallian‘s October 2025 issue. To read more, visit bit.ly/TLSOct2025.
