Dynamic Digital Vulnerability: Social Media’s Role in Polarization, Psychological Distress, and Exclusion Among Generation X and Baby Boomers

Abstract

This paper examines how evolving social media environments expose baby boomers and older members of Generation X to heightened digital vulnerability, including manipulation, psychological distress, polarization, and social exclusion. By reviewing interdisciplinary peer-reviewed literature, the study analyzes research on digital literacy, algorithmic personalization, online commentary, misinformation, AI-generated media, compulsive platform use, mental health, and digital exclusion. This review identifies three interconnected dimensions of vulnerability. First, gaps in digital and AI literacy can make older users more susceptible to misinformation, deepfakes, and deceptive online content. Second, algorithmically curated feeds and engagement-based platform designs may reinforce existing beliefs, intensify polarization, and encourage compulsive consumption of distressing material. Third, difficulty adapting to rapidly changing digital norms and technologies may contribute to distrust, subjective loneliness, and social exclusion from increasingly digitized forms of social and civic participation. These findings suggest that the conventional concept of the “grey digital divide,” which primarily emphasizes disparities in access and basic technological skills, does not fully capture the fluid and multidimensional nature of contemporary online risk. Ultimately, this paper finds that digital illiteracy, algorithmic curation, and AI-generated media may pose risks to the individual thought and psychosocial well-being of older adults, reflecting an emerging form of dynamic digital vulnerability.