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Think the 65+ crowd is still dragging their heels when it comes to adopting the Internet? Think again. At GlynnDevins, our clients are generating approximately 20% of initial inquiries via the Web, and the latest Nielsen research report emphasizes the tremendous growth in the 65+ segment.

In case you missed the report, here are the highlights from Nielsen:

• Internet usage among 65+ users is up from 11.3 million in Nov. 2004 to 17.5 million users in November 2009. That’s a 55% increase in just half a decade.
• Time spent online by seniors is also growing, with the monthly average increasing from 52 hours to 58 hours.
• What are the 65+ using the Web for? (There is a top 10 list in the article.) Here are the top rankings: 88.6 percent use it for email, 68.6 percent for maps, 60.1 percent for checking the weather and around half use the Web for paying bills and/or posting photos.
• What sites are they visiting? Google Search is unsurprisingly the site most often visited by seniors, with Windows Media Player close behind, thanks to the number of sites that require it. Facebook comes in third and YouTube is fourth on the list.

For more on this research report and a link to the entire study, check out this link:
http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/2009/12/11/senior-web-users-on-rise-and-theyre-using-google-facebook-and-youtube/

And, if you would like to read more about senior Internet growth in general, the link below takes you to the Jan. 2009 report from Pew, which breaks out the 70-75 category at 45%:

http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/Generations-Online-in-2009/Generational-Differences-in-Online-Activities/2-Internet-use-and-email.aspx?r=1