Baby Boomers in the digital age
Lee Rainie – Director Pew Internet Project Silver Summit - CES
The changing Boomer audience: Then and now 2000
2008
40% use internet
74% use internet
<5% broadband at home
62% broadband at home
34% own a cell phone
72% own a cell phone
0% connect to internet wirelessly
43% connect to internet wirelessly
<10% use “cloud”
47% use “cloud”
= slow, stationary connections that are built around my computer
= fast, mobile connections that are moving to outside servers and storage
The changing Boomer role: Then and now 2000
2008
Boomers were 28% of the internet population
Boomers are 36% of the internet population
and 24% of the traffic on a typical day
and 33% of the traffic on a typical day
Boomer internet use intensifies: Then and now 2000
2008
24% online aver. day
52% online aver. day
<5% online several times/day 35% online several times/day 20% go online from time to time just for fun
>41% go online from time to time just for fun
2002
2007
34% say it would be “very hard” to give up the internet
42% say it would be “very hard” to give up the internet
33% say “very hard” to give up their cell phone
46% say “very hard” to give up their cell phone
Boomers are often just like other internet users 100
91
90
90
78
% of internet users
80
74
70
70 60
53
50
36
40
30 30 20 10 0
Email
Search engines
Health info
Get news
Govt sites
Research Religious Online jobs info ratings
Boomers and e-commerce 90
81 80
70
% of internet users
70
68
60
55
50 40
27
30 20 10 0
Research products
Buy goods
Travel reservations
Banking
Auction
Boomers and Web 2.0 90 80
% of internet users
70 60 50 40
38 26
30
17
20
16
13
11
10
7
0
Video sharing sites
Read blogs
Share creations
Post comments
Social network profile
Have website
Blog
Thank you! Lee Rainie Director Pew Internet & American Life Project 1615 L Street NW Suite 700 Washington, DC 20036
[email protected] 202-419-4500
Baby Boomers
January 10, 2009
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