Seniors Are Big Internet Users

One of the frustrations I've faced in my Aging in Place volunteer work is the commonly held notion by my fellow board members that seniors ("matures") do not use the Internet. I have been lobbying for the creation of a website and the use of email to reach out to the community of seniors. But now I have proof that using the Internet to get out our information makes sense!

Research by CTAM, the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing, shows that seniors are heavy users of email and online shopping. Of folks 65 and over, 77% shop online. And 94% regularly use email.

More interesting statistics are available at: http://www.ctam.com/html/news/releases/091027.htm .

I first read the information at the Center for Media Research.


1 comment:

JHTFA said...

I began teaching computer skills to seniors (mostly well over 80 yo) in 1992 in a very well equipped computer lab which I set up. Believe me, they are not only capable of using computers but quickly become adept at using the internet and they loved it. I had at least 30 or 40 students every week in groups of 3 for an hour 3x a week. They not only emailed their grandchildren but did research on all sorts of topics and shopped. Anyone who thinks it's not productive to try to reach the seniors through the internet is just plain out of touch with that population and is displaying very typical age bias.