Sharing or not sharing? How university of the Third Age participants navigate misinformation

This study explores how participants in Universities of the Third Age (U3A) explain their decisions to share or not share accurate, false, and potentially manipulative information. Thematic analysis was applied to data from 11 focus groups with U3A participants aged 65 and over across eight Czech cities. The findings show that these decisions are shaped by participants’ knowledge and experience, assessment of information and its sources, and relationships with others. Participants shared information to discuss it with others, to protect family and friends, to maintain contact, or to pass on interesting or humorous content. They did not share information they considered unreliable or unverifiable, felt overwhelmed by questionable content, or were concerned about its effects on others. The study distinguishes between participants’ own decision-making and their interpretations of others’ behaviour. From an adult education perspective, these everyday practices can be seen as part of informal learning in later life. Older adults draw on their experience, discuss and compare interpretations with others, and decide whether information can be trusted or shared. Engagement with misinformation is a matter of individual media literacy and also a social learning process within everyday relationships.