From WhatsApp family chats to TikTok videos, older adults are spending more time on smartphones, changing how Latino families connect across generations.
For years, parents worried about their children spending too much time staring at smartphone screens. They set limits, confiscated devices at dinner, and complained about teenagers who seemed unable to put their phones down. But something has changed inside American families. Increasingly, the generation that once warned children about technology is spending hours on smartphones of its own.
Grandparents are watching videos, scrolling through Facebook, sharing family pictures on WhatsApp, discovering TikTok, and following everything from cooking tutorials to political commentary. For many Latino families, smartphones have become an essential part of everyday life, connecting relatives across generations and even across international borders.
The phenomenon raises a new question: What happens when Abuela and Abuelo become just as attached to their phones as the grandchildren they once told to disconnect?
The numbers suggest that older Americans are embracing technology at a remarkable pace. According to AARP’s 2026 technology report, smartphone ownership among adults 50 and older increased from 55 percent in 2016 to 90 percent in 2025. Nine out of 10 adults in this age group now use social media, while eight out of 10 stream video every week.
The transformation is also visible among Latino adults, who report particularly high levels of participation on several social media platforms.
A 2026 survey by the Pew Research Center found that 85 percent of Hispanic adults use YouTube, 70 percent use Facebook, 60 percent use Instagram, 56 percent use WhatsApp, and 53 percent use TikTok.
The numbers are especially striking when compared with non-Hispanic White adults. While 30 percent of White adults report using TikTok, the proportion among Hispanic adults reaches 53 percent. Instagram use also differs, with 60 percent of Hispanic adults reporting that they use the platform, compared with 46 percent of White adults.
These figures cover Latino adults of all ages, not specifically grandparents. Still, they demonstrate how deeply social media has entered Latino communities.
A new kind of family connection
For Latino grandparents, the smartphone is often much more than an entertainment device. It can be a direct connection to children and grandchildren who live in another city, another state, or another country.
WhatsApp has become particularly important for families with relatives in Mexico, Central America, and other parts of Latin America. Family groups allow grandparents to receive photographs, exchange messages, share celebrations and participate in everyday conversations that once required expensive international calls.
A short video call can allow a grandmother in Los Angeles to watch her granddaughter celebrate a birthday in Mexico City. A grandfather can follow the daily activities of grandchildren who live thousands of miles away.
Research involving Spanish-speaking Hispanic adults ages 63 to 89, published in the journal Innovation in Aging, found that connecting with family members abroad was a primary motivation for adopting technology. Participants described digital communication as a necessity rather than simply a convenience.
One participant offered a particularly revealing observation: Technology brings you closer to those who are far away but can push you away from those who are nearby.
That statement captures the contradiction at the center of the digital generation gap. The same device that allows grandparents to maintain relationships across borders can also distract them from the people sitting beside them.
When the roles are reversed
The growing presence of smartphones among older adults is creating a new family dynamic. Adult children who once heard complaints about their screen time are now finding themselves asking their parents to put their phones away.
The issue is not exclusive to Latino families. A June 2026 CBS News report featured Aida Orellana, a 61-year-old grandmother from Harlem who said she spends four to five hours a day on Instagram and Facebook.
Orellana explained that her phone had become an important companion after the pandemic and her responsibilities as a caregiver reduced her social activities. She uses it for news, entertainment, photographs and curiosity, but also recognizes how much time she spends looking at the screen.
Her experience illustrates why the growing use of technology among older adults cannot automatically be described as addiction. For some, smartphones provide companionship, information and a sense of participation in a world that may otherwise feel increasingly distant.
The difference between connection and dependence
There are legitimate concerns about excessive screen time, regardless of age. Endless scrolling, constant notifications and algorithm-driven videos can make it difficult to stop using an application.
For older adults, another concern is exposure to misinformation, misleading health advice, and online scams. Social media platforms can also reinforce political divisions and circulate unverified information through family networks.
Yet technology also offers important benefits. Older adults can use smartphones to access medical information, manage appointments, communicate with relatives, learn new skills, and participate in online communities.
AARP’s research found that two-thirds of adults 50 and older believe technology enriches their lives and makes aging easier. At the same time, three out of five say technology is not designed with their age group in mind.
There are also inequalities within the Latino senior population. A study published in Innovation in Aging in 2024 examined digital access among Hispanic adults 70 and older. Researchers found that Hispanic seniors were less likely than non-Hispanic White seniors to have access to digital devices, although the gap narrowed between 2011 and 2021.
That means the digital experience of Latino grandparents is not uniform. Some are constantly connected, while others still face barriers involving income, language, education and access to technology.
Grandparents in the age of the algorithm
The image of grandparents sitting in front of a television has increasingly been replaced by another familiar scene: an older adult watching videos on a smartphone, forwarding messages to family groups or scrolling through social media before going to bed.
The question is no longer whether older generations will embrace digital technology. They already have.
The challenge is finding a balance between the opportunities these platforms offer and the time they consume.
For Latino families, where relationships between grandparents, children and grandchildren often extend across borders, smartphones have become powerful tools for maintaining family ties. But those same devices can create new tensions when virtual connections begin competing with face-to-face relationships.
Perhaps the next time a grandparent tells a teenager to put down a phone, the response will be simpler than expected: Abuela, you first.
