Social "change"

Older adults are flocking to social networks
By Suzanne Choney

Social networking use by Internet users ages 50 and older nearly doubled in the past year, going from 22 percent in April 2009 to 42 percent in May 2010, according to the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project’s new report, "Older Adults and Social Media."

While 86 percent of younger Internet users (ages 18 to 29) "continue to be the heaviest users”"of social sites like Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn, "over the past year, their growth paled in comparison with the gains made by older users," Pew said.

Between April 2009 and May 2010, Internet users between ages 50 and 64 who said they use a social networking site increased 88 percent, and those ages 65 and older had "100 percent in their adoption of the sites, compared with a growth rate of 13 percent for those ages 18‐29."

Twenty percent of Internet users ages 50 to 64 "say they use social networking sites on a typical day, up from 10 percent one year ago," Pew said.

A year ago, 5 percent of Internet users ages 50 to 64 said they used Twitter or another "status update service," but now 11 percent say they do.

It’s impressive growth, considering younger Internet users have already represented a hefty presence on Facebook and Twitter. On social networking sites like Facebook, 60 percent of those ages 18 to 29 say they use such sites on a "typical day," as do 39 percent of those ages 30 to 49, Pew says.

Status update services like Twitter draw 18 percent of those ages 18 to 29 on a typical day, and 9 percent of those ages 30 to 49.

One of the main reasons for older adults' increased interest and use of social networking sites: They know Facebook and Twitter are where their kids and grandkids are spending time, and it’s a way to "bridge generational gaps," said Mary Madden, Pew senior research specialist and author of the report.

"There are few other spaces — online or offline — where tweens, teens, sandwich generation members, grandparents, friends and neighbors regularly intersect and communicate across the same network," she said.

But it isn’t all about you, lest you think it is. Older social networking users are "much more likely to reconnect with people from their past," Pew said in the report, "and these renewed connections can provide a powerful support network when people near retirement” or “embark on a new career."

In a survey last September, Pew said about half of social networking users ages 50 and older said at some point, they were contacted by someone from their past who found them by using the Internet. And nearly two-thirds said they have searched online for information about someone from their past.

Another reason to seek camaraderie on social networks: health problems. "Older adults are more likely to be living with a chronic disease, and those living with these diseases are more likely to reach out for support online," by blogging about it or taking part in online health discussions, Pew said in its current report.

E-mail does remain "an essential tool" for older Americans’ daily communications, Pew said; 92 percent of those ages 50 to 64, and 89 percent of those ages 65 and older say they send or read e-mail, and more than half of each age group e-mails on a "typical" day.

Checking online news sites daily also is a regular habit for many; 76 percent of Internet users ages 50 to 64 say they check news online, and 42 percent say they do so on a "typical day." Among Internet users 65 and older, 62 percent say they look for news online, and 34 percent do so on a typical day.

Among younger users, 44 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds, and 45 percent of 30- to 49-year-olds say they check online news on a typical day.

Checking online classified ads is still something more widely done by the younger generation, Pew found: 14 percent of those ages 18 to 29, and 13 percent of those ages 30 to 49 say they do so on a typical day, compared to 6 percent of Internet users ages 50 to 64, and 5 percent of those age 65 and older.

Pew surveyed 2,252 adults nationwide via phone between April 29 and May 30. The survey’s margin of error is 2 percent.