Using CiteSpace software to visualize and analyze 981 related documents on elderlycommunication research in the China Knowledge Network Database (CNKI) from 2012 to 2022, it isfound that the research hotspots are focused on the topics of elderly broadcasting, WeChat, Jitterbug,digital divide, media image, silver-haired Netflix, and health communication; the ten-year researchhistory can be roughly divided into three phases: stable development period (2012—2015), paradigmadjustment period (2016—2018), and comprehensive development period (2019—2022), with studiescentered on elderly audiences, WeChat, and self-presentation playing a key role between the phases;meanwhile The core group of authors in the field has not yet been formed, and there is a lack ofinfluential academic guiding forces. Based on the findings of this paper, the future media perspectiveshift, the expansion of the perspective of media empowerment, the promotion of theoretical innovationand the adaptation of research methods to aging may be the future direction of the study of elderlycommunication in China.