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Research: Over-50s logging on to the internet in droves
Wednesday 30th June 2010, by Daniel King
Although it has forever been seen as the plaything of the young, it would appear that the internet is now growing up.
New research from the UK Online Measurement Company (UKOM), powered by consumer behaviour measurement firm Nielsen, has shown that people over the age of 50 have been largely responsible for the increase in the number of people in Britain logging on in the past 12 months.
According to the data, the size of the internet audience in the UK climbed by five per cent between May 2009 and the same month in 2010 - from 36.9 million people to 38.8 million.
And some 53 per cent of these new surfers were over-50s.
The study also revealed of the one million people over the age of 50 who logged on to the internet for the first time in the last 12 months, 722,000 were men.
Commenting on the findings on behalf of UKOM/Nielsen Alex Burmaster said: "The internet is getting older in more ways than one. Not only is the medium itself maturing but the audience is shifting towards older age groups.
"This growth is a reminder, if one was still needed, that it is very much a form of media utilised by all age groups," he added.
Mr Burmaster went on to state the figures demonstrate how the web is "no longer the sole preserve of the young and technical literati".
What do you think of these figures?
Is it surprising that such a high proportion of the older generation are logging on?
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