While people 65 and older still make up less than 10 percent of the active Internet universe, their numbers are on the rise. In the last five years, the number of seniors actively using the Internet has increased by more than 55 percent, from 11.3 million active users in November 2004 to 17.5 million in November 2009. Among people 65+, the growth of women in the last five years has outpaced the growth of men by 6 percentage points.
Not only are more people 65 and older heading online, but they are also spending more time on the Web. Time spent on the Internet by seniors increased 11 percent in the last five years, from approximately 52 hours per month in November 2004 to just over 58 hours in 2009.
“The over 65 crowd represents about 13% of the total population and with this increase in online usage, they are beginning to catch up with their offline numbers,” notes Chuck Schilling, research director, agency & media, Nielsen’s online division. “Looking at what they’re doing online, it makes sense they’re engaged in many of the same activities that dominate other age segments – e-mail, sharing photos, social networking, checking out the latest news and weather – and it’s worth noting that a good percentage of them are spending time with age-appropriate pursuits such as leisure travel, personal health care and financial concerns.”
How do they Keep Busy on the Web?
Online visitors 65 and older partake in a variety of activities, from e-mail to bill paying. With 88.6 percent of seniors, checking personal e-mail was the No. 1 online activity performed in the last 30 days. Viewing or printing online maps and checking the weather online were the second and third most popular online activities, with 68.6 and 60.1 percent, respectively.
| Top 10 Online Activities Performed in the Last 30 Days by People 65+ (U.S.) | ||
|---|---|---|
| RANK | Profile Point: Internet Activities in Last 30 Days | Audience Composition Percent |
| 1 | Personal E-mail | 88.6 |
| 2 | Viewed or Printed Maps Online | 68.6 |
| 3 | Checked Weather Online | 60.1 |
| 4 | Paid/Viewed Bills Online | 51.2 |
| 5 | View/Posted Photos Online | 50.1 |
| 6 | Read General/Political News | 49.2 |
| 7 | Checked Personal Health Care Info | 47.3 |
| 8 | Planned Leisure Travel Trip Online | 39 |
| 9 | Searched Recipes/Meal Planning Suggestions | 38.4 |
| 10 | Read Business/Finance News | 37.8 |
| Source: The Nielsen Company, Nielsen @Plan Fall 2009 Release, Adults 18+ | ||
The No. 1 online destination for people over 65 in November 2009 was Google Search, with 10.3 million unique visitors. Windows Media Player and Facebook were No. 2 and No. 3, with 8.2 million and 7.9 million visitors, respectively. Interestingly, Facebook, which came in at No. 3, ranked No. 45 just a year ago among sites visited by senior citizens.
Overall, the number of unique visitors who are 65 or older on social networking and blog sites has increased 53 percent in the last two years alone. 8.2% of all social network and blog visitors are over 65, just 0.1 percentage points less than the number of teenagers who frequent these sites.
| Top 10 Online Destinations Visited by People 65+ in November 2009 (U.S., Home and Work) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| RANK | Site | Unique Audience (000) | Unique Audience Composition (%) |
| 1 | Google Search | 10,253 | 7.7 |
| 2 | Windows Media Player | 8,241 | 10.9 |
| 3 | 7,946 | 7.2 | |
| 4 | YouTube | 7,668 | 8.4 |
| 5 | Amazon | 5,679 | 9.3 |
| 6 | Yahoo! Mail | 5,638 | 7.8 |
| 7 | Yahoo! Search | 5,583 | 8.7 |
| 8 | Yahoo! Homepage | 5,383 | 6.8 |
| 9 | Bing Web | 4,510 | 10.1 |
| 10 | Google Maps | 4,397 | 8.4 |
| Source: The Nielsen Company | |||
After reading the article about how the number of seniors on the web has increased, I wanted to share this with you. My mother is 89 years old and could not get by without the internet! She emails friends (usually younger) and family. She spends hours searching the internet and just reading about different things. She is not without her issues on “how to’s” but none the less she is “connected”!
[...] YouTube last month, making them their 3rd and 4th most visited on the internet destinations.nThe research confirmed a trend that we’ve seen in current years: that more seniors are becoming active on [...]
[...] or YouTube last month, making them their 3rd and 4th most visited online destinations. The research confirmed a trend that we’ve seen in recent years: that more seniors are becoming active on [...]
[...] research confirmed a trend that we’ve seen in recent years: that more seniors are becoming active on [...]
[...] research confirmed a trend that we’ve seen in recent years: that more seniors are becoming active on [...]
[...] or YouTube last month, making them their 3rd and 4th most visited on the web destinations.nThe research confirmed a trend that we’ve seen in recent years: that more seniors are becoming active on [...]
[...] research confirmed a trend that we’ve seen in recent years: that more seniors are becoming active on [...]
[...] research confirmed a trend that we’ve seen in recent years: that more seniors are becoming active on [...]
Sort of weird that you should include Windows Media Player in the list. It does not even fit in the definition for “online destination”.
[...] the senior citizens (65+) being not too different from what it could be for Boomers or younger. Here are the top ten websites that is popular among people of the older age group (ranked by monthly [...]
[...] research confirmed a trend that we’ve seen in recent years: that more seniors are becoming active on [...]
[...] research confirmed a trend that we’ve seen in recent years: that more seniors are becoming active on [...]
[...] fastest growing demographics on the Internet for awhile. New data from Nielsen Online shows that 6 million more seniors are surfing the web than there were five years [...]
[...] fastest growing demographics on the Internet for awhile. New data from Nielsen Online shows that 6 million more seniors are surfing the web than there were five years [...]
[...] research confirmed a trend that we’ve seen in recent years: that more seniors are becoming active on [...]
[...] research confirmed a trend that we’ve seen in recent years: that more seniors are becoming active on [...]
[...] research confirmed a trend that we’ve seen in recent years: that more seniors are becoming active on the [...]
[...] fastest growing demographics on the Internet for awhile. New data from Nielsen Online shows that 6 million more seniors are surfing the web than there were five years [...]
[...] some updated statistics on what 65+ seniors do online. New data from Nielsen Online shows that email is still the number one activity of these older Americans. The next two activities – getting maps and weather – suggest gift-givers might [...]
[...] The research confirmed a trend that we’ve seen in recent years: that more seniors are becoming active on the web. In November of 2004, there were 11.3 million active seniors online. In November 2009, that number jumped by 55% to 17.5 million. In addition, they spend more time on the web, totaling an average of 58 hours a month in front of the browser. While those numbers didn’t surprise us, we were interested in data that Nielsen collected on their browsing habits. Take a look at these two tables. The first reveals the most common activities among active online seniors. The second shows the top ten websites and online destinations that this demographic visited last month: [...]
[...] million more senior citizens are active Internet users today than was the case five years ago, and they are spending more time surfing the Web as well, [...]
[...] The social network owes quite a lot to the senior population as well. The stats put out by Nielson state that the number of users aged over 65 has increased from 11.3 Million in 2004 to over 17.5 Million, [...]
[...] From the Blog Post: [...]
[...] fastest growing demographics on the Internet for awhile. New data from Nielsen Online shows that 6 million more seniors are surfing the web than there were five years [...]
[...] to a report from Nielsen, the number of senior citizens on the Internet has grown from 11.3 million in 2004 to 17.5 million [...]
[...] In the last five years, the number of people 65 and over using the internet has increased 55 percent, according to Nielsen. [...]
[...] research confirmed a trend that we’ve seen in recent years: That more seniors are becoming active on [...]
[...] fastest growing demographics on the Internet for awhile. New data from Nielsen Online shows that 6 million more seniors are surfing the web than there were five years [...]
[...] Nielsen reports that the over 65s are flocking to the web and spending more time on the internet. [...]
[...] the Internet grew 55% to 17.5 million in November 2009, up from 11.3 million in November 2004, according to a survey by [...]
[...] I think it’s numbers like these that prove that age is not the barrier we once thought it to be. Clearly there are more seniors than ever who have managed to make the jump onto Web these days. [...]
[...] Six Million More Seniors Using the Web than Five Years Ago | Nielsen Wire – [...]
[...] Source: The Nielsen Company [...]
[...] Full Article HERE. [...]
[...] latest Nielsen study shows that more and more seniors 65 or older are online and they are spending more time online in [...]
My Mother is 74 and living at home. Since setting up a computer and the internet for her four years ago, she has attended computer clubs in her local area to increase her skills and to meet her friends. Further to this, she is now on facebook leaving messages on the walls of her grandchildren! In the next 10 years, there will be a significant reliance on the internet with those 55 year olds who are used to computers retiring. This demographic will only continue to grow as a peak user of the internet. There are already many dedicated websites to this segment such as http://www.ascca.com.au, the Australian Seniors Computer Club Association and http://www.aboutseniors.com.au, About Seniors just to name two of the quality organisations!
[...] seniors enjoy using the internet, and some of their favorite sites include Facebook and YouTube. Nielsen estimates that today nearly 17.5 million seniors are active on the Internet, which is up from 2004, [...]
[...] Six Million More Seniors Using the Web than Five Years Ago [...]
[...] Neilsen (2009). Six Million More Seniors Using the Web than Five Years Ago. Neilsen Wire. Retrieved from http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/six-million-more-seniors-using-the-web-than-five-y... [...]
[...] According to Forrester’s research, 63% of 64-73-year-olds are online at least monthly. And Nielsen noted that 6 million more seniors are online today than five years ago — most likely because [...]
[...] 55 percent, from 11.3 million active users in November 2004 to 17.5 million in November 2009 says Neilsen Wire. Time spent on the Internet by seniors increased 11 percent in the last five years, [...]
Not a day goes by without my using the Internet for one thing or another. Especially for e-mail and research.
I think this info is great! for I have raised my family now my children married andhave kids of their own. I am glad that there are other older persons besides myself that use the web. It is one way to keep in touch with the ties
Thanks for the update. I have been tracking web usage by seniors for about a year. It is definitely been growing.
I have been encourageing all my friends to get to know their computers better because it can be your friend.
That's great! Once they've got the basic knowledge of how-to's they're good to go!
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