INDEPTH: INTERNET SENIORS
Cyber seniors online
Jennifer Chen, CBC News Online | 2001, Updated October 29, 2003
As the fastest growing group of internet users, seniors have become red-hot targets for marketing and advertising groups. In recent years, web sites and organizations such as Cyberseniors, Online Seniors and Savvy-Seniors have sprung up to cater to the computer training and resource needs of the over-55 demographic.
Older internet users go online primarily to send e-mail and digital photos, news and finance-related research and shopping, Charles Scwab & Co found in a study for SeniorNet.
Greenfield Online's "Surfing Seniors" study reports that 92 per cent of web users over the age of 55 use the internet to "window shop". Seventy-eight per cent have actually made a purchase online. The online shopping numbers for seniors are higher than the general internet population.
On average, senior computer users reported spending approximately five hours per week online.
In the column on the right, you'll find a list of online tutorials especially designed for seniors. Many also provide links to resources that are geared towards seniors.
Reference books
- Mr. Modem's Internet Guide for Seniors
by Richard A. Sherman
- Introduction to the Computer and the Internet for Seniors
by Shelley O'Hara and Paul Wray
- 300 Incredible Things for Seniors on the Internet
by Joe West, et al.
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