I often hear marketers quip “our audiences (seniors) are not online”.  The presumption is that seniors are too old to use the computer and they would somehow get lost while navigating the Web.  (Really?)  At the same time, I am always hearing about how someone’s 92 year old grandmother is an email fanatic and a Facebook junkie.  I tend to believe this is becoming the norm vs. the exception.

MediaPost recently reported the results of a Pew Internet Research study that clearly debunks they myth that senior citizens are not online.  Surveys show that the graying of the Internet is a powerful trend. View the article!

According to the Pew stats, there are 20 million internet users over the age of 65.  And almost 80% of them use email.  The top 3 uses of the Web are:

1. Email
2. Search
3. Researching Health information

Below is a nifty chart provided by eMarketer.  As you can see, recent retirees are using the Web en masse, and their elders are not far behind.

Surprised? Baffled? Or do you already know this? For more exciting stats view the entire report.

And Grandma if you are reading this, I love you!

Comments are welcome!

Steve Latham

http://twitter.com/stevelatham