New Survey Shows 50+ Internet Users Just As Active As Younger Counterparts
Posted on September 25, 1997
Internet users 50 years and older are just as active online as younger users, according to The Third Age Online, a new study sponsored by The Excite Network and Third Age Media, Inc. The most comprehensive online survey ever made of older adults online, the study reached more than 7000 users of Excites search services during July and August, 1997. Fourteen percent of the respondents were 50+, a percentage that matches findings in other surveys. Key findings of the study found that Third Agers online:
- Use the net daily; 83% log on at least once a day, a level on a par with younger users
- Have more money and are more inclined to buy products online than younger Internet users
- Spend more than 10 hours each week online, the vast majority of accesses from home;
- Begin using the Internet to "try something new," as well as to stay in touch with friends, children and grandchildren; and
- Demonstrate more interest than younger users in government/politics, investing, news, travel, spirituality/religion, medicine and culture. Their interest in computing and education matches that of younger users.
The term Third Age is a translation of the French Troisieme Age and refers to the active time of life after middle adulthood when the principle responsibilities of raising a family and working are complete or slowing and they have the time and the money pursue their passions with vigor. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, there are nearly 70 million people 50 years of age and older in the U.S. today. With Baby Boomers turning 50 at the rate of one every seven seconds, this the fastest growing segment of the population. According to the most recent Find/SVP poll the total number of Internet users in the United States is estimated at between 40 and 45 million putting the total number of 50+ users at about 6 million.
The Third Age Online Survey results will be formally released September 25 in New York City at Business Meets the Age Boom At the Electronic Frontier, a conference cosponsored by Third Age Media and the American Society on Agings Business Forum on Aging.