Pew: Young Or Old, Search Cuts Across Age Categories

Jan 28, 2009 at 5:04pm ET by Greg Sterling

The Pew Internet & American Life Project has come out with a fairly comprehensive look at generations and internet activity, called “Generations Online.” The report segments users by age categories (i.e., X, Y, Boomers) and looks their online activities. The data were drawn from responses by thousands of users to surveys conducted by Pew researchers between 2006 and 2008.

Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project

While activities such as IM, online video or social networking appeal to younger users and e-commerce or online banking are disproportionately used by Gen X and Baby Boomers, email and search are almost equally used by all groups across the board:

Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project

There’s a great deal more in the data and it’s worth a closer look if you’re a marketer or just an interested bystander and curious about empricial confirmation or debunking of perceptions of what users do or don’t do online based on their age.

Buzz It

Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land, and writes a personal blog Screenwerk, examining the broader world of media and advertising. He also posts at Internet2Go, which is focused on the mobile Internet.

See more articles by Greg Sterling >

Share, Bookmark & Discuss This Article
More:

Keep Updated: News Via Email | News Via RSS Feed | News Via Twitter

See more stories like this in the Members Library! Check out the Search & Society: General, Stats: General, Stats: Search Behavior, Top News sections of the Members Library where this story is filed. Members also get access to exclusive video content, a members-only weekly & monthly newsletter, plus more. Check out all the benefits!

Comments are closed.

TOP STORIES

See All »

SEARCH NEWS BRIEFS

See All »

FEATURES & ANALYSIS

See All »

RECENT COMMENTS

Aaron Bradley said " Thanks for highlighting the fact that Hitwise was comparing Google News with Facebook and Twitter, a"
Aven said " Wow, they WOULD do that.. Twitter is at it again huh? But I do think that is a great idea seeing as "
Stupidscript said " Now THAT was some seriously good s**t! If there was a website filled with nothing but high-level inf"

See All »

See How To Articles And More In Our Members Library »

FREE DAILY SEARCH NEWS RECAP!

SearchCap is a once-per-day newsletter update:

STAY CURRENT THROUGHOUT THE DAY

Our feed & social options update you as news happens.

SEARCH ENGINE LAND SPONSORS

Advertise With Us »

UPCOMING SEARCH ENGINE LAND CONFERENCES

Search Engine Land produces SMX, the Search Marketing Expo conference series. SMX events deliver the most comprehensive educational and networking experiences - whether you're just starting in search marketing or you're a seasoned expert.

SMX Web Site » | SMX Difference » | SMX News »

Join us at an upcoming SMX event:

UPCOMING SEARCH ENGINE LAND WEBCASTS

Learn more about search marketing with our free online webcasts and webinars from our sister site, Search Marketing Now. Upcoming online events include: