More seniors online

The latest Nielsen study shows that more and more seniors 65 or older are online and they are spending more time online in the U.S. The study does not give reasons why this is happening but I think it’s a just another example of how the Internet has gone mainstream. It’s becoming more and more difficult to live without using the Internet and the Internet is becoming more accessible and easy to use. People who turn seniors has also in many cases already use the Internet and computers for many years as they are no longer a generation that grew up without computers.

From November 2004 to 2009 there has been an 55% increase in active users totaling 17.5 million. They are however still only 10% of the total amount of U.S. users. Their user pattern is very normal including checking email, online maps, weather, paying bills and reading news. They are using the Internet as a normal extension of their daily live.

What I found most interesting is Facebook as number third most visited site and Youtube as the forth most visited site. It’s interesting because it shows that once they are online they embrace new services that are unique to the Internet. It also shows how good services like Facebook and Youtube are designed as they can easily be used by people from of all ages. The lesson for marketers is that functionality helps capture audience and that there is a growing mature audience on the Internet to speak to.

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Entry Filed under: Cases, Facebook