When the Internet was conceived and created, it took off and swept the planet – the biggest breakthrough in the area of human communication the world has ever known. At its inception, the vast majority of new users were under the age of 35 or even 30. For years it has been the milieu of ‘youth’, and a lot of the older generation looked on in bemusement, and sometimes downright antipathy. Today, the situation has changed considerably. According to press releases and publications such as Internet Magazin and Internet News, the percentage of new Internet users over the age of 70 has increased more rapidly than any other percentile in the last few years.
At a global conference in Madrid, the Pew Internet & American Life Project supplied data confirming the change.About one quarter of the over-70 population in the U.S. went online in 2005, and as of last year the ratio had increased to almost half, according to the statistics. The percentage of people over 70 who are ‘surfing the web’ has also increased dramatically, from 17 to 27 percent. The same increase seems to be taking place in Britain and other countries.
The W3C, or World Wide Web Consortium, is an international organization that sets standards for the Web. They have found that older users generally start using the Web as just a means of communication, but like the younger generation, rapidly expand their activities. However, unlike the under 30 or 35 group, older users are less likely to go shopping or do their banking on the Net. The most popular activity online for those who have not grown up with Internet access is still e-mailing, according to the research of the Pew Project.
The older Internet users are also much less likely to show up on Facebook, and few of them are Twittering.
The issues relating to Internet use by the ‘older generation’ are becoming more relevant due to several factors. One is the fact that a larger and larger percentage of the population has a longer life expectancy than ever before in history. In addition, the age of retirement has been extended in many countries. Therefore it follows that more and more older working people will need to be competent in the computerized world of today. The W3C is hoping to come up with new technology that will make Internet use possible even for those with physical limitations due to old age