Aging in the Digital Tsunami: Older Micro-Influencers, Digital Inclusion, and Dynamic Access on Douyin

As China undergoes rapid demographic aging, older Wanghong (influencers over 60) on platforms like Douyin challenge traditional digital inclusion frameworks that conceptualize access as linear progression through motivational, material, skills, and usage dimensions. This study examines how older micro-Wanghong navigate challenges during content creation, revealing critical gaps in existing digital inclusion theory. Drawing on an exploratory qualitative study of 11 micro-Wanghong, we develop the dynamic access concept that reconceptualizes digital inclusion as continuous adaptation across three dimensions: motivational resilience (maintaining creator identity despite platform constraints), adaptive skill development (ongoing competency evolution responding to platform changes), and algorithmic navigation (strategic responses to systematic platform exclusions). Our analysis reveals systematic algorithmic exclusion through temporal marginalization (algorithms favoring high-frequency posting patterns that disadvantage older micro-Wanghong’s rhythms), knowledge domain restrictions (automated content moderation limiting topics relevant to older adults), and culture misalignment (platform architectures optimized for entertainment conflicting with older micro-Wanghong’s knowledge transformation preferences) that create structural barriers independent of individual competencies. Despite these constraints, participants demonstrate sophisticated adaptive strategies enabling sustained creative participation through ongoing platform negotiation rather than static skill application. These findings extend Van Dijk’s digital inclusion theory by demonstrating how platform-mediated content creation collapses traditional access boundaries into ongoing negotiation processes. The dynamic access addresses temporal dimensions which often assumed in digital appropriation or inclusion theories, positioning meaningful participation as requiring continuous adaptive capacity rather than one-time achievement. We argue that digital inclusion policy must evolve beyond basic access provision toward supporting ongoing adaptation to platform evolution.