A few weeks back, I posted about the ongoing fight against fake news. As always, I read with great interest the comments. I was surprised by how many people questioned the claim that Facebook users over the age of 65 are far more likely to share fake news than younger users. Particularly, the reasons cited: a lack of digital media literacy by people who didn’t grow up with the internet and age-related cognitive decline.
So, I did a little digging and discovered an Infographic on how the elderly used the Internet, courtesy of MedAlertHelp.org. This infographic convincingly dispels the myth of the computer-illiterate grandpa using correction fluid on the monitor to correct an error. As you’ll see, there are a lot of benefits of seniors using technology–and the seniors themselves would be the first to acknowledge that. Indeed, a whopping 70% of people over the age of 65 use the Internet on a typical day, with baby boomers spending 27 hours per week online! Women lead the way with 87% vs. men’s more modest 66%.
So, if you think that your book marketing efforts are wasted because your audience consists mainly of older readers, perhaps you need to reconsider! Read on for some more great statistics on this:
Excellent infograph! 😉
Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed it 😀
Informative, but calling older persons “elderly” is kind of like calling someone with mental disabilities retarded–WAY passe. A VERY outdated term from when those over-65 year-olds were in the 30s perhaps.
I’ll be 72 next week and I use my smartphone all day–along with a computer. I run three websites (two of them blogs), publish books via POD and digitally. I have a goal of nine more books by 2031 so you can bet I’ll be marketing to many people–no YA or children though. So this info is helpful even if the term is off.
Interesting comment on the “elderly” term. What would you say a better term might be? Senior?
Very ‘American-biased’ of course, but still interesting. Those surveys are naturally based on what older Internet users claim to be using it for, not always what they actually are really surfing. 🙂
I am over 65, and use the Internet all day, every day. Mostly for blogging, but also for online shopping, and connecting by email.
I would agree that smartphone dependency is negligible for most older people though. It certainly is in my case.
Best wishes, Pete.
It’s the same with me. It looks like smartphones are for the young ones.