Which Generations Are Using the Internet in 2009

01/28/2009

In the past decade the number of Internet users has changed and escalated dramatically. There are some online activities that in the past were dominated by either younger generations or older generations. Now studies show that these online activities are occurring more laterally in all Internet users that are younger than 73 years old. The following analysis does not include teenage Internet users but rather those who shop, bank, make travel reservations, conduct work-related research, download videos, email, obtain health information and make purchases online.

Internet User Generations

• Generation Y - Persons born between 1977 and 1990. Gen Y comprises 30% of Internet users.
• Generation X - Persons born between 1965 and 1976. Gen X makes up 23% of Internet users.
• Baby Boomers - The people that were born between 1955 and 1964, referred to as the Younger Boomers comprise 22% of Internet users and those born between 1946 and 1954, called the Older Boomers are 13% of Internet users.
• Silent generation - Born between 1937 and 1945. The Silent Generation represents 7% of Internet users.
• G.I. Generation - Coined the “General Infantry” (G.I.) Generation due to their participation in World War II; individuals in the G.I. Generation were born before 1937 and comprise 4% of those utilizing the Internet.

Although Generation Y has become known as the “Net Generation,” it is obvious that the Baby Boomers, younger and older, form the largest percentage of those using the Internet (other than teenagers) at a combined 35 percent. Baby boomers conduct business, bank, shop, and create and read blogs online. However, studies show that more than half of all Internet users are between 18 and 44 years of age. According to the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project surveys taken from 2006 thru 2008, “larger percentages of older generations are online now than in the past and they are doing more activities online.”

Teenage and G.I. Generation Internet User Comparison

The percentage of teenage Americans that are online due to surfing, playing and downloading games and music, social networking, reading and creating blogs, watching videos, instant messaging, visiting virtual worlds and conducting educational research hold the highest percentage of Internet users and comprise 93% of all the persons in their age group. Whereas 27% of G.I. Generation Internet users are mostly concerned with news gathering, shopping and getting health information, visiting government sites, obtaining religious information and banking..

According to Pew, the biggest increase in Internet users since 2005 has occurred in the older Silent Generation and the G.I. Generation. Forty-five percent of those age groups are currently online. Pew predicts that as time goes on “we can probably expect to see things becoming more level, but for now younger generations dominate the online population.”

Gen X Internet Usage

Internet users born between 1965 and 1977 are spending their time online banking, searching for jobs, obtaining information on health-related topics, visiting government sites, searching for religious information, making travel reservations, sending and receiving emails and shopping. Generation X also plays games, researches, reviews and rate products, watches videos, and sends instant messages; participate in online auctions, gathers news and social network.

Internet Communication

Blogging, instant messaging and social networks like My Space and Facebook have become more popular as online communication tools, but according to the Pew study, “Email remains the most popular online activity, particularly among older Internet users.” Sending and receiving email in the teenage population has digressed from 89 % down to 73 % since 2004. This lack of email activity can probably be attributed to the increasingly popular text messaging.

Broadband Access for Internet Users

Broadband access for American Internet users aged 12-24 has increased by about 50 %, doubled for Internet users aged 25-64 years old, and tripled for seniors that are 65 and older. However, for the oldest age of those 76+, only 16% have broadband.

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