The dominant narrative about older adults and digital media often portrays this age group as lacking digital skills and being especially susceptible to online misinformation. This talk debunks these age-related myths, arguing that older adults are not necessarily less savvy than younger cohorts and do not constitute a monolithic group of unskilled users. In fact, the talk will present findings that reveal contexts in which older adults demonstrate greater resilience to misinformation than their younger counterparts. The talk draws on content from the book Wired Wisdom: How to Age Better Online published this summer.
Eszter Hargittai is Professor and holds the Chair in Internet Use & Society in the Department of Communication and Media Research at the University of Zurich. She is the author or editor of six books, most recently, Wired Wisdom: How to Age Better Online (University of Chicago Press, 2025) co-authored with John Palfrey. Hargittai’s research focuses on the social and policy implications of digital media with a particular interest in digital inequality, how differences in people’s digital skills influence what they do online, and how these may translate into changes in life chances. Her work has received awards from numerous professional associations. She is an elected fellow of the International Communication Association where she is currently Fellows Chair, and an external member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Her research has been supported by the US National Science Foundation, the MacArthur, Sloan, Markle, Dan David, and Russell Sage Foundations, Microsoft Research, Google, Facebook, Merck, and Nokia, among others. Hargittai holds a BA in Sociology from Smith College and a PhD in Sociology from Princeton.
