Search Is No. 2 Online Activity Across All Age Groups: Pew Study

Using search engines is the second most common online activity among all age groups, according to the new Generations 2010 report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. E-mail is the most popular online activity among each age group.

According to the Pew study, 87% of all US adults who use the Internet also use search engines. Pew gets more specific, too, reporting that 83% search for health information online — the third most popular online activity. Reading news and shopping are the fourth and fifth most common activities, respectively.

Searching for health information online would presumably be something that older adults do more often than others, but Pew’s survey shows it’s the number three activity in each adult age group.

Social networking and online video are two other activities worth noting, but not shown above. While younger adults are still most likely to use social media sites, usage among adults aged 74+ has quadrupled from 4% in 2008 to 16% this year. Online video watching is rising dramatically at all age levels — it’s jumped from 52% in 2008 to 66% this year.

Pew surveyed more than 2,200 US adults in May 2010 for the data above.