Oldies invade the internet
Posted 29 May 2007 at 8:53AM by Simon Dickson in Doing business online
If you think the internet is young people's territory, prepare for a surprise: it's been suggested that the 55+ age group is set to become the UK's most active in terms of internet visits. The 'silver surfer' market segment now accounts for 22% of website visits, an increase of 40% in just one year - putting it just behind the 35-44s, who are currently the most active group.
The research by analysts Hitwise (now part of the Experian empire) showed that older users show a particular fondness for websites in the 'Travel' and 'News and Media' categories. More than a quarter of visits to travel websites came from the over 55s, including (as you might expect) almost half the traffic to sites about cruises. Other popular categories for older users included 'Stocks and Shares' and 'Yachting and Boating', hinting at a high disposable income.
This is actually a subject I'm just coming to terms with myself. Lured by the offer of free broadband from another telecoms provider, my recently retired mum persuaded my brother to hook up an old PC - now she's surfing and emailing with the best of them. Having roamed the new media landscape without parental supervision for well over a decade, it's quite a shock for me to suddenly be getting interrupted by MSN Messenger alerts from my mum!
Tags: demographics, hitwise, silver surfers
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2. At May 30, 2007 2:14 PM, Louise wrote:
I think it's great that so many older people are trying out the internet. We are actively encouraging it at Age Concern and welcome anyone to have a go!!
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1. At May 29, 2007 12:13 PM, elaine wrote: