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for the fun of it
For 65-plus, web's for entertainment and family
By Marty Beard
Some of them are called the Greatest Generation, but there are in fact several generations, each marked in some way by the wars they fought, from World War II up through the end of the Korean war and the early beginnings of Vietnam.
They are Americans ages 65 and older, and as a group they are unique in many regards, and their use of the internet is no exception.
In a nation rushed onto the web for some all-important reason, be it school or work, where one just had to learn the internet or be left behind, this country's seniors are the one group who are on the web purely for the fun of being there.
While notoriously underrepresented--just 15 percent of people ages 65 and older have internet access--those who are online are there for pleasure, according to a recent study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
"Seniors are much more likely to enjoy emailing family to improve their connection to their family," says Susannah Fox, director of research for the Pew project. "They’re also more likely to use the web for leisure activities."
Fully 48 percent say that their families encouraged them to go online, and 45 percent say they are online out of their own choice.
"Wired seniors may be small in number, but they make up for that by their enthusiasm for doing things online," says Fox.
They are also online more often.
On an average day, 69 percent go online, versus 56 percent of the general internet population.
What seniors do once online also distinguishes them from younger internet users.
Ninety-three percent of online seniors send and read email, compared to 92 percent of all internet users. Fifty-three percent of web-using seniors check email daily, compared to 48 percent of all web users.
Like the population at large, seniors are avid consumers of online health information.
Fifty-three percent of wired seniors have gone online in search of health information, compared to 56 percent of the general online population.
Additionally, seniors are more likely than any other demographic except for teens and twentysomethings to play games online. Forty-four percent of internet users ages 18 to 29 report having played a game online, compared to 32 percent of seniors.
But don’t get the wrong idea: Grandma’s not up all night playing Doom or Quake.
"It’s not like they’re playing the shoot ’em up games," Fox says. "They’re more likely to be downloading a crossword puzzle or playing a card game online."
Fifty-five percent of all online seniors have read the news online, and 21 percent do so on a typical day. A similar proportion of seniors, 53 percent, has gone online to check the weather, in comparison to 62 percent of all internet users.
Currently, the demographic’s composition mirrors what the web looked like six years ago. Sixty percent of senior web users are men, compared to 43 percent of all seniors. Seventy-six percent have at least some college education.
Twenty-five percent of seniors who are web users reside in households that earn at least $75,000, compared to the 8 percent of all seniors who live in affluent homes; and a majority of online seniors are white.
Within a few years, Fox says, the early-adopter pattern will give way and come to resemble the current web population.
"In the year 2000, more older women first went online than older men, so I foresee the gender gap closing when it comes to wired seniors," Fox says. "They will cease to resemble an early-adopter group, but it may take a few years."
Yet wired seniors don’t like to shop online, in part because they fear for the security of their personal information. Thirty-six percent of seniors have bought a product online, in contrast to 48 percent of the general population of web users.
Ultimately, the web is not a good place to market to seniors.
"They’re not doing as much online shopping as younger users," Fix says. "However, they really look for information. They’re enjoying the information aspects, particular with health information and hobbies information. If you’re marketing things to them, help with a hobby or a medical issue; they aren’t likely to buy it online, but they are looking for that information."
The population of online seniors will look a lot different once the baby boomers begin to retire—a phenomenon that Fox refers to as the "silver tsunami."
"The baby boomers are using the internet for almost every aspect of their lives," says Fox. "They’re not going to be able to give that up after retirement."
September 11, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
-Marty Beard is a staff writer for Media Life.
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