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.

Staying involved and in touch ....

In a recent report 'Social Networking for Seniors' in the New York Times, Carla Winn suggests that one-third of Americans age 75 and over live alone and are increasingly turning to online social networks like Facebook and My Space for their social contacts. The article quotes Joseph Couglin director of the AgeLab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as saying, “One of the greatest challenges or losses that we face as older adults, frankly, is not about our health, but it’s actually about our social network deteriorating on us, because our friends get sick, our spouse passes away, friends pass away, or we move. The new future of old age is about staying in society, staying in the workplace and staying very connected. And technology is going to be a very big part of that, because the new reality is, increasingly, a virtual reality. It provides a way to make new connections, new friends and new senses of purpose.”
Posted by Mike Scally at 09:35
Labels: technology

Silver Surfers' Day is on May 15th

This year it's bigger and better than ever with hundreds of free or nearly-free IT taster events all over the UK, in venues as diverse as a Sainsbury's supermarket in Folkestone and a Community Centre in the Scilly Isles. Many will be on Friday May 15th but others will be on other days, up until end of May.

So if you're over 50 years old and still unsure about computers then this is a great chance to just give it a go!

Silver Surfers' Day is run by Digital Unite, who've been getting older people online for thirteen years.