Do Algorithms Re-standardise the Life Course?
The Role of Social Media for the Third Age in China.

Abstract

Against the broad backdrop of global population ageing and the digital revolution, this study focuses on algorithmic public social media. It examines how the algorithm and platform reshape the identities of China’s third age and how, in this process, they reproduce and even intensify social inequality.

The thesis builds an integrated theoretical framework to address the core research question, the study adopts a multi-level mixed-methods design. At the macro level, the study finds that algorithmic platforms, acting as curators, reshape a standardised ideal third age narrative centred on successful ageing. At the meso level, it shows that users’ digital practices are deeply structured by offline cultural capital. The study proposes the algorithmic cave metaphor to describe the structural information predicament faced by the latter under low algorithmic literacy and high algorithmic dependence. Mechanism analysis not only verifies the conversion pathway of digital capital but also identifies media format thresholds in different format creation. Further micro analysis reveals that the third age cultural landscape on platforms arises from a dual mechanism of capital barriers and platform discipline: high-visibility content is produced strategically and in templated forms by creators with significant capital advantages to compete for scarce attention.

In sum, the thesis constructs and validates a cyclical model of the reproduction of inequality, showing how capital, algorithms, and user agency act together to shape age identity construction and social stratification in the digital era. The findings deepen the understanding of the third age, offer new theoretical tools and mechanistic explanations for digital inequality, and carry practical implications for platform governance and digital inclusion policy.