Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnac020
Title: Hostility Toward Baby Boomers on TikTok
Authors: Reuben Ng 
Nicole Indran 
Keywords: Content analysis
Generational stereotypes
Intergenerational tension
TikTok
Videos
Issue Date: 1-Feb-2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Citation: Reuben Ng, Nicole Indran (2022-02-01). Hostility Toward Baby Boomers on TikTok. The Gerontologist 62 (8) : 1196-1206. ScholarBank@NUS Repository. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnac020
Abstract: Background and objectives: The recent entry of the hashtag #OkBoomer into social media vernacular underscores the collective frustration of younger people with a group whose views they find increasingly incompatible with theirs. Most social media analyses in gerontology focus on the content on Twitter and Facebook, with content on TikTok virtually unexplored. Given the burgeoning popularity of TikTok among younger people, we assess the content of TikTok videos with the hashtags #OkBoomer or #Boomer to distill the undercurrents of hostility expressed by younger people toward Baby Boomers. Research design and methods: We collated TikTok videos (N = 332) with the hashtags #OkBoomer or #Boomer, which received over 5.4 billion views. Both inductive and deductive approaches guided the qualitative content analysis of the videos. Results: Five themes emerged. Most videos (79%) described "Negative Encounters with Baby Boomers" (Theme 1); 58% were about "Conflicting Values/Beliefs between Baby Boomers and Younger People" (Theme 2); 39% were about "Baby Boomers Antagonizing Younger Generations" (Theme 3); 22% of the videos made references to the "Karen Meme" (Theme 4); and 7% bemoaned the existence of a "Wealth Gap" between Baby Boomers and younger people (Theme 5). Discussion and implications: Findings reveal that the usage of the hashtags #OkBoomer and #Boomer is highly nuanced, at times explicitly ageist, and at others, emblematic of a phenomenon far more complex than ageism. There is a need to leverage social media as a space to foster interaction between older and younger people. Society is ultimately well served by intergenerational interaction.
Source Title: The Gerontologist
URI: https://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/handle/10635/237562
ISSN: 0016-9013
1758-5341
DOI: 10.1093/geront/gnac020
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