The Adult Children Cleaning Up Their Parents' Feeds

Adult children are increasingly taking responsibility for managing their older parents’ social-media feeds, as short videos, scams, misleading health claims, and AI-generated content consume more of their parents’ time. Jim began curating his 80-year-old mother Gloria’s Facebook after she was widowed, became lonely, and started scrolling late into the night. He fills her feed with family photos and harmless interests while marking inflammatory or suspicious posts as unwanted. Gloria’s memory and attention also seemed to worsen, but Jim cannot establish that social media caused the change; he believes disrupted sleep and compulsive use may be contributing. Other adult children describe parents who scroll through TikTok or YouTube for much of the day, sometimes trusting fake doctors or falling for dubious remedies.

The problem is difficult because online access can offer older people companionship, pleasure, and independence, especially as their offline worlds contract. Earlier internet use may even benefit cognition by requiring people to learn new digital skills. But many families say their parents’ habits intensified during pandemic isolation, when online feeds filled the gap left by social clubs and in-person contact - and platforms introduced endless short-form video. Researchers identify learning, exercise, social connection, and sleep as important supports for aging minds, while the effects of passive scrolling remain unclear. Adult children must therefore protect parents from manipulative content without stripping away a valued source of connection or treating capable adults like children. The challenge is not simply to ban screens, but to preserve agency while addressing risks.