WASHINGTON, DC — Contrary to the image of Generation Y as the “Net Generation,” internet users in their 20s do not dominate every aspect of online life. Generation X is the most likely group to bank, shop and look for health information online, and Baby Boomers are just as likely as Generation Y to make travel reservations online.Even Silent Generation internet users are competitive when it comes to email (although teens might point out that this is proof email is for old people).
The Web continues to be populated largely by younger generations, as more than half of the adult internet population is between 18 and 44 years old. However, larger percentages of older generations are online now than in the past and they are engaging in more online activities, according to the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project surveys taken from 2006-2008.
While Generation Y (ages 18-32) comprises only about 26-percent of the adult population, it accounts for 30-percent of internet users. Generation X, whose members are 33-44 years old, accounts for 20-percent of the adult population and 23-percent of internet users. Baby Boomers, ages 45-63, account for 33-percent of the population and 35-percent of internet users. Silent Generation members, ages 64-72, account for 9-percent of the population and 7-percent of internet users, and the G.I. Generation, whose members are 73 and older, accounts for 9-percent of the population and 4-percent of internet users.
Teens and Generation Y are the most likely groups to use the internet for entertainment and for communicating with friends and family. The younger generations are significantly more likely than their older counterparts to seek entertainment through online videos, online games, and virtual worlds, and they also are more likely to download music. Internet users ages 12-32 are more likely than older users to read other people’s blogs and to write their own. They also are considerably more likely than older generations to use social networking sites and to create profiles on those sites.
Compared with teens and Generation Y, older generations use the internet less for socializing and entertainment and more as a tool for information searches, emailing, and buying products. In particular, older internet users are significantly more likely than younger generations to look online for health information. Health questions drive internet users age 73 and older to the internet just as frequently as they drive Generation Y users, outpacing teens by a significant margin. Researching health information is the third most popular online activity with the most senior age group, after email and online search.
The biggest increase in internet use since 2005 can be seen in the 70-75 year-old age group. While just over one-fourth (26-percent) of 70-75-year-olds were online in 2005, 45-percent of that age group is online now.
A detailed analysis can be found at Pew’s website: http://tinyurl.com/c99kuk.
