▁life ▁cycle ▁as ▁a ▁mountain , ▁where ▁we ▁peak ▁in ▁middle ▁age ▁then ▁decl ine ▁Old er ▁adult s ' ▁experiences ▁are ▁often ▁ex cluded ▁from ▁research ▁ag end as ▁on ▁digital ▁media , ▁and ▁age ism ▁is ▁ens con ced ▁within ▁discipl ines ▁such ▁as ▁mass ▁communication ▁studies . ▁For ▁example , ▁in ▁a ▁media ▁diffusion ist ▁perspective , ▁the ▁practices ▁of ▁sen iors ▁are ▁dep icted ▁as ▁either ▁neg lig ible ▁or ▁as ▁lag ging , ▁and ▁the ▁equation ▁of ▁diffusion ▁with ▁individual ▁ownership ▁can ▁hide ▁practical ▁' work ar ounds ' ▁such ▁as ▁cell ▁phone ▁sharing ▁or ▁missed ▁calls ▁used ▁by ▁older ▁cou ples ▁on ▁fixed ▁in comes . ▁Age ism ▁is ▁also ▁in ad vert ently ▁embedded ▁in ▁the ▁ways ▁that ▁we ▁generate ▁statistics , ▁for ▁example ▁through ▁data ▁collected ▁based ▁on ▁large ▁age ▁categories ▁( e . g ., ▁' 6 0 + ') ▁fo isting ▁anyone ▁over ▁ 6 0 ▁into ▁' the ▁grey ▁zone ' ▁which ▁obsc ures ▁differences . ▁ ▁Visual ▁age ism ▁ ▁The ▁term ▁visual ▁age ism ▁was ▁co ined ▁in ▁ 2 0 1 8 ▁by ▁Lo os ▁and ▁Ivan . ▁They ▁define ▁visual ▁age ism ▁as ▁" the ▁social ▁practice ▁of ▁vis ually ▁under re present ing ▁older ▁people ▁or ▁mis re present ing ▁them ▁in ▁a ▁pre jud iced ▁way ". ▁We ▁are ▁facing ▁a ▁shift ▁from ▁visual ▁age ism ▁character ized ▁by ▁under re presentation ▁and ▁the ▁negative ▁representation ▁of ▁older ▁people ▁to ▁a ▁representation ▁of ▁older ▁age ▁character