Early reports of COVID-19 often inaccurately presented the virus as a serious concern only among older adults. On the social media platform of Twitter, #BoomerRemover originated as a hashtag intended to express the age-related disparities of COVID-19. This study used a content analysis to examine tweets over a two-week period in March 2020 that used #BoomerRemover to discuss COVID-19 among older adults. A total of 1875 tweets were analyzed. Salient themes include: (1) There's a Real Intergenerational Divide, (2) Young People are Affected Too, (3) It's Being Used for Political Gain, and (4) #BoomerRemover is Simply Disrespectful. Findings suggest that many of the tweets employing #BoomerRemover were grounded in either personal or political ageism. In addition, a significant portion of tweeters used #BoomerRemover to defend older adults and speak out against ageism. This study highlights the importance of recognizing and addressing the growing intergenerational divide on social media, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

关于 COVID-19 的早期报告常常不准确地将该病毒列为仅在老年人中引起严重关注的问题。在 Twitter 的社交媒体平台上，#BoomerRemover 最初是一个标签，旨在表达 COVID-19 与年龄相关的差异。这项研究使用内容分析来检查 2020 年 3 月两周内使用#BoomerRemover 在老年人中讨论 COVID-19 的推文。总共分析了 1875 条推文。突出的主题包括：(1) 存在真正的代际鸿沟，(2) 年轻人也受到影响，(3) 它被用来谋取政治利益，以及 (4) #BoomerRemover 简直是不尊重。调查结果表明，许多使用#BoomerRemover 的推文都基于个人或政治年龄歧视。此外，很大一部分推特用户使用#BoomerRemover 来保护老年人并反对年龄歧视。这项研究强调了认识和解决社交媒体上日益扩大的代际鸿沟的重要性，尤其是在 COVID-19 大流行期间。