Editor: Li Liwen

This article is an original work by Evergreen Research Society.

The 2026 Spring Festival, which has just concluded, saw many young people returning home only to be taken aback by the realization that the "internet addiction" issues they once grappled with now afflict their parents. "Managing the online time of silver-haired parents" has emerged as a fresh challenge for numerous families during the New Year celebrations.

Meanwhile, the 2026 National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference have just wrapped up. In this year's government work report, terms like "silver economy" and "elderly-friendly society" were frequently mentioned. With 160 million silver-haired netizens deeply entrenched in digital life, China's elderly population has quietly undergone one of history's most significant and rapid digital transformations.

How many seniors are there in the digital realm?

According to the 55th Statistical Report on Internet Development in China by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), as of June 2025, the number of "silver-haired netizens" aged 60 and above in China had surged to 161 million. This indicates that one in every two elderly individuals over 60 has embraced digital life.

How remarkable is this figure? For comparison, in 2010, only 4.9% of the elderly population had any online experience. In just 15 years, the number of elderly internet users has multiplied approximately 18 times.

How much time do they spend online daily?

The elderly are not merely "connecting" to the internet; they are "diving deep." According to the 2025 Silver Economy Insight Report by mobile data monitoring agency QuestMobile, silver-haired users spend an average of 4 hours online daily. More alarmingly, over 30% of elderly individuals remain active on their phones past midnight, much to the concern of their children. This raises questions: What does the digital life of these 160 million seniors truly entail? Is it bridging the digital divide or marking the onset of a new form of addiction?

What exactly are they doing online?

Many hold the stereotype that the elderly only browse news and watch videos online. However, data reveals that their digital lives are far more diverse than imagined, even mirroring those of younger generations.

Social interaction is a fundamental need, and family bonds exist "in the cloud."

The 2025 Report on Elderly Digital Life by the Population and Development Research Center at Renmin University of China found that 97% of elderly internet users engage with social communication tools. Some fill the void of shrinking social circles post-retirement through family and interest groups, using voice messages, emojis, and video calls.

Short videos dominate, as algorithms seem to understand them better than their own children.

If social interaction is a fundamental need, short videos are the "time sink" that captivates the elderly. Data shows that 35.1% of their online time is spent on short videos, with 87.1% using them almost daily. Nearly half (48.3%) spend over 2 hours daily on short videos.

It's evident that algorithms are "precisely targeting" the elderly. Once they browse content on health or emotions, platforms inundate them with highly homogenized content like "5 Longevity Secrets Every Elderly Person Must Know" or "Signs of Unfilial Children."

Accompanying this trend is the rise of online shopping as a new favorite, proving that "impulse buying" knows no age. Consumption data shatters the stereotype that the elderly only watch videos. Research shows that 69.8% of elderly netizens shop online, ordering everything from grains to daily essentials—small items like kitchen seasonings and bathroom tissue to large purchases like home appliances and health devices, even gifts for younger relatives during holidays, all with a few taps.

However, when digital life morphs into "digital addiction," problems arise.

First is the physical toll, shifting from "elderly ailments" to "smartphone-related illnesses." Traditionally, the elderly suffered from chronic conditions like hypertension and diabetes. Today, ophthalmology and orthopedics clinics see more patients with dry eyes, sudden vision loss from excessive screen time, or neck and wrist pain from prolonged screen use.

Many elderly joke, "My eyes are failing, my neck is stiff, and my hands shake when grabbing red envelopes." Behind the humor lies real health deterioration. Staring at screens from dawn to dusk, staying up late for live streams or binge-watching short dramas disrupts their regular routines, plunging their supposedly peaceful retirement into another form of "overwork." Vision decline, neck strain, sleep disorders—these "smartphone-related illnesses" are becoming new labels for the elderly in the digital age.

This is not an isolated issue. A 2025 clinical study by Peking Union Medical College Hospital's ophthalmology department found that 37% of patients over 60 with severe vision problems used electronic devices for over 6 hours daily. Doctors note that glaucoma and severe cervical spondylosis, once common only among those in their 80s and 90s, now increasingly affect "younger seniors" in their 60s.

Second is the algorithm's trap, turning emotional comfort into a "harvesting tool." Jia Yu, an associate professor at Wuhan University's School of Journalism and Communication, told China Youth Daily that some platforms exploit the elderly's psychological needs for health, companionship, and nostalgia, pushing targeted content to foster emotional dependency. When streamers call them "dad" or "mom" on camera, many seniors succumb to these pseudo-familial bonds.

This also brings financial risks, from "9.9 yuan traps" to "three-no products": 8 yuan for a box of apples, 5 yuan for a pack of pig trotters, 3 yuan for rice—some elderly think they've scored bargains in live streams, only to find their 9.9 yuan electric shavers leak electricity on first use.

The China Consumers Association's 2025 Analysis of Elderly Consumer Complaints revealed a 32% year-on-year increase in online consumption complaints involving the elderly, with 65% related to short videos and live shopping. Some platforms use algorithms to push bizarre, exaggerated micro-dramas to the elderly, luring them with ultra-low prices, enabling password-free payments by default, and automatically playing paid content. From "watch videos to earn money" scams to "cure-all" health products, the elderly are becoming prime targets for online consumption traps.

Despite these concerns, digital technology is also opening new doors for the elderly.

According to the Henan Provincial Government website, in Kaifeng, 67-year-old Zhao Guiju films walks around Longting Park with her phone, running a Douyin account with over 600 followers, showcasing the ancient capital's seasons. Chen Xianhua, retired, fell in love with dancing and posted over 200 dance videos in two years, earning likes from 570 fans.

The 2025 Report on Middle-Aged and Elderly Short Video Use by Beijing Normal University's New Media Communication Research Center found that over 75% of internet users aged 55 to 83 have created short videos, transitioning from passive consumers to active producers.

Douyin data shows that by late 2025, over 3,000 silver-haired creators had more than 500,000 followers, covering fields like knowledge sharing, cooking, and travel. This marks the elderly's shift from adapting to digital life to building it, sparking a "cross-generational resonance" in the digital sphere.

"If I say too much, they get annoyed; if I say nothing, I fear they'll be scammed." This sums up the dilemma of many children.

Confronting parental "internet addiction," simple blame or confiscating phones often backfires. Wang Dahua, a professor at Beijing Normal University's Department of Psychology, notes that elderly smartphone addiction stems from physiological decline, algorithmic traps, and insufficient social support.

How can families help the elderly coexist peacefully with their phones?

Tang Enhou, a national second-level psychological counselor, told Health Times to try these methods: First, establish a "digital diet" plan: Use built-in phone features to set usage limits, following the "three 20s" rule—no more than 20 minutes per session, and after 20 minutes, look 20 feet (about 6 meters) away for 20 seconds. Second, help them curate content: Disable unnecessary notifications and subscribe to authoritative sources like official health accounts or reputable news outlets. Finally, replace screen time with real interactions like calligraphy or square dancing.

What should platforms do? The 30 trillion yuan market should not be a "field to harvest the elderly" but a "safe haven" for their twilight years. Feng Wenmeng, a researcher at the Development Research Center of the State Council, suggests the government set regulations to guide platforms in implementing anti-addiction mechanisms for elderly accounts, disabling "infinite scroll," and establishing cooling-off periods or secondary confirmation via family accounts for high-value purchases by users over 60.

In fact, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has already pushed 3,092 elderly-friendly websites and apps to adopt "senior modes" with larger fonts, icons, and simplified operations. These are just the beginning.

160 million silver-haired netizens are redefining retirement in the digital wave. What they need is not a cold device but a world behind the screen where they feel needed, valued, and respected.

Our role is not just to help them put down their phones but to assist them in finding the perfect balance between digital and real life.

After all, each of us will grow old someday.