Living in a day and age where all of the world’s information is at our fingertips, it’s no surprise that the demographic which is often left behind is slowly starting to catch up with the rest of the world. Although a couple of years ago the stats would have been very different, in recent years, there’s been a dramatic increase in the use of the internet and technology in general by the elderly. They are no longer ignoring, but are starting to embrace the changes in this modern world, and more and more using the technologies that come with it.

Slowly but steadily seniors are entering the world that was once predominantly inhabited by the millennials, and although their presence there is nowhere near as consistent as the latter, we’re definitely going to see more of them as time goes by.

How often do seniors go online?

As recent statistics shown in an infographic by MedAlertHelp suggest, 71% of seniors go online almost every day, while 11% visit the World Wide Web, three to five times a week. Seniors who are most frequent on the internet are those with higher incomes and a better educational background.

What do seniors use the internet for?

How and why they use the internet might be one of the main differences between them and the younger generations. While young people tend to use the internet to go on their social media platforms, the elderly people use it for what most of us would expect, like communicating with their family and friends, read the news, and learn more about healthcare or health in general.

Seniors and their favorite social media platform

When talking about social media, it’s no surprise that the most used social media platform for people over the age of 50 is Facebook, with 61% of people between the ages of 50 and 59 and 36% of people over the age of 60 using it. Second, on the list is Twitter, but the numbers aren’t even close to the previous ones. Only 18% of people aged 50 to 59 and 6% aged 60 and above are a part of this platform. Instagram comes third with 13 and 5%, while Snapchat takes the last spot with 10% of people aged 45 to 55, 5% between 55 and 64 and only 1% of people aged 65 and above using it.

As times are changing, we’ll see an even greater increase of seniors using the internet, which is why it’s imperative for digital marketers to up their game, and tailor their products and services to these people as well. Instead of alienating this demographic, we should embrace this change and try to make their internet use as easy and smooth as possible, by giving them the necessary tools.

How can we know what we need to do to make their passage into the online world easier? Well, the detailed infographic below contains some well-researched statistics that clearly show how elderly people use the internet, for what purpose as well as what they’re looking for and what they need.