Generation Y think we quite cool!

A survey has revealed that young generation find people over 50s as 'friendly' and 'knowledgeable'.
Youngsters actually have a rosier impression of their elders than older people give them credit for.
While the over 50s typically think members of the iPhone generation see them as "past it", that is not the view held by most 18-to-24-year-olds.
A survey has found that today's young people think those of their parents' and grandparents' generations are friendly, knowledgeable and - for want of a more up-to-date expression - "with it".
"Around 67% of over 50s believe 18-to-24s perceive them as 'past it', but the reality is that just 18 % of 18-to-24s actually have that perception," the Telegraph quoted Ros Altmann, director general of Saga, which commissioned the poll, as saying.
"And while only 11% of over 50s think younger people perceive them as friendly, the reality is that around 29% of 18-to-24s do actually think older people are indeed friendly.
"Just 17% of over 50s think 18-to-24s consider them knowledgeable. However, the truth is that 42% of this age group perceive oldies as being great founts of knowledge," she added.
YouGov conducted the research for Saga, which interviewed 1,148 adults in February.

More on the internet savvy generation

A study has found that not only are more over-50s using the internet, but it's actually improving their mental health.

More than 2,000 silver surfers were quizzed by Dadooda.com about their online habits and the report found that the over-50s spend an average of 26 hours a week online.

Most of their surfing is devoted to checking emails (83 per cent) with almost two-thirds shopping and banking online.Silver surfers are also logging on to social networks - spending more than three hours a week catching up with friends and family.

The study concluded that the majority of silver surfers have easier lives thanks to the internet with browsing the web helping to keep their minds active.

This was in stark contrast to findings in a recent study which found that the average 21-year-old is becoming more depressed with links being made with between mood and internet use. 

As the generation Y users are turning away from Facebook, their grandparents are filling their places on the social networking site.

The 55+'s are the fastest growing group to sign up to sites such as Facebook and MySpace, often using them to keep up to date with the lives of family and friends, especially grandchildren  and overseas - assuming they aren't among the growing number of younger users abandoning the social networking sites.

Figures show that the number of older users of Facebook increased nearly tenfold in America last year, while university-age users declined by 55 per cent.

Are boomers and Gen Y's really so different?

A fascinating article in the FT describes 2 studies, one from the US and the other from the UK, which shows a remarkable convergence of values between the over 50's and the Gen Y's. The US study showed that : *More than 90 per cent of Gen Ys and 85 per cent of boomers seek new experiences at work *Flexible work is important to 89 per cent of Gen Ys and 87 per cent of boomers *Almost as many boomers as Gen Ys want to work remotely some of the time (63 per cent and 69 per cent respectively) *Only 14 per cent of boomers and Gen Y are work-centric *Over 60 per cent of Gen Ys and boomers see a parent-child dynamic in work relationships between their generations *Some 58 per cent of Gen Ys look to boomers for advice and 58 per cent of boomers like helping them "navigate" work.
This is great news for organisations who are wishing to use older workers as mentors and coaches and also for those who fear that these 2 huge population groups have little in common.

How things have changed

Watch this interview to get a wonderful view on how baby boomers sometimes view the younger generation.

Generations online in 2009

Internet users take part in different activities based on their age group. That's according to a report, "Generations Online in 2009" released by Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Each age group, whether it's Generation Y or Baby Boomers, are all active on the Internet but do different activities. Generation Y, those between ages 18 and 32, comprise 26 percent of the adult population and 30 percent of the Internet-using population. Among the generational age groups, this is the largest.

Generation Y is also the most social. This group is most likely to use the Internet to play games (50 percent); watch videos online (72 percent); send instant messages (59 percent); use a social networking site (67 percent); create a profile on a social networking site (60 percent); read a blog (43 percent); create a blog (20 percent); or visit a virtual world (10 percent).

"Generation Y is the most well-rounded," said Susannah Fox, associate director at Pew Internet. "They are the most likely to have access to the most online technologies most of their adult lives. That means they probably can't imagine a world without these online activities. They probably never had a chance to form habits like older generations, and probably seems natural."

Social networks are high on the list of activities of Generation Y, a trend cited in an earlier report released by Pew Internet.

Generation X, defined as those between the ages of 33 and 44, share some similarities with Gen Y. Like Gen Y, people in this age group are likely to play games online (38 percent); watch videos online (57 percent); get job information (55 percent); send instant messages (38 percent); use social networking sites (36 percent); create a social networking site profile (29 percent); read a blog (34 percent); and create a blog (10 percent). Where those in the 33 to 44 age group stand out is in research.

Yet, this cohort is more likely than Gen Y to get information on health (82 percent); buy online (80 percent); bank online (65 percent); or visit government Web sites (64 percent) than other groups.

"Generation Y is most likely to have sampled most of what's available online, but generation X seems to be in a life stage that gives them the opportunity to use the Internet experience that they have," Fox said. "They're a pretty wired generation, plus they're at the point online where they're starting to manage some capital."

The population between 70 and 75 years old has grown the most. In a 2005 Pew Internet study, 26 percent were online. At this time 45 percent of the age group is now online.

"People are aging into this group," Fox said. "People are hanging onto their Internet connection through their life stages. We see the saturation start to seep into our older populations."

E-mail is heavily used across all age groups, though Internet users ages 55 and older rely on the medium more heavily. Ninety percent of younger Boomers (ages 45 to 54) and older Boomers (ages 55 to 63) are equally likely to use e-mail online. What they call the Silent Generation(Ughh!), defined as those between 64 to 72) uses e-mail (91 percent), while 79 percent of the G.I. Generation, ages 73 and older, uses e-mail.

Search, watching videos, news, and travel are also universal categories across all age groups.

"This report can give some nuance to the stereotypes we hold about generations and online activities," Fox said. "Some of these stereotypes hold true. It's pretty likely that teens with Internet access will go on social networking sites. It's also true that if you're in your 70s it's less likely you will have Internet access and will stay in the shallow waters of e-mail and searchThen there are those people in the middle, who are also doing interesting things."

Pew Internet conducted a series of telephone interviews in August 2008 of adult Internet users to compile the data for the study.

Is Generation Y really superior to the over 50's in IT?

Watch this video and slideshow which presents solid evidence to show that the gap is not only not great between the generations but in many ways the over 50's are ahead of the youngsters. Fascinating study. You can watch the video or go more quickly through the slide show. The company behind this is Atticmedia which partners with Axia Interactive Media, a company of which I am Chairman. We work with together with some signifcant national clients and I am delighted to bring this presentation to a wider audience.

Boomers learn from Generation Y

Baby boomers are starting to learn from Generation Y's approach to workplace training...

Senior execs are starting to employ GenY media like online video, social networking sites and even eBooks, according to a new report on leadership training from the Chartered Management Institute.

In the past, baby boomers have been considered a lot more technophobic than Generation Y's. We were supposed to be reluctant to embrace new technologies, and slow to use them effectively. But it seems that times are changing: 51% said they’d used online video (up from 21% a year ago), 34% have got involved with social networking sites (up from 12% last year), and about a quarter had made use of eBooks or discussion forums. This is a big leap over the course of a year – it could just be the inevitable march of progress, but it might also mean that they’re looking for efficiencies at a time when cash is tight.