Who rules the Internet today? Well if you judge it by money and broadband it is by far the baby boomer's. This group of 78 million people in the US control more than 83% of consumer spending. And that number will grow to $4.6 trillion by 2015. 80% of them have broadband.
According to a recent ThirdAge/JWTBOOM study, people over 40 years of age have not embraced social networking or blogs despite being heavy users of other online services.
Boomer's want to connect and interact with others in their communities around shared interests and common issues, but they use more traditional web communications tools, such as email to keep in touch.
"Do you visit Social Networking sites to connect and engage with others..."
- 53% said no
- 22% said yes
- 26% said that they did not but might
Among the 53% who said they had not visited Social Networking sites:
- 47 % cited concerns over privacy and security of personal information
- 39 % said they are too busy
- 32% said they do not see the benefit of spending time on social networks
67% of Boomer's expressed little or no interest in writing blogs. 63% expressed little or no interest in general social networking. 55% showed little or no interest in listening to podcasts or pre-recorded content.
Email still seems to rule.
- 75% who have received promotional emails about products and services have clicked through to the site being promoted
- More than 55% have purchased a product or service promoted in an email
Do you work your publicity? Because...
- 93% of respondents who have read an article about a website in print (newspaper or magazine) have later visited the site online
Boomer's participate in viral or word-of-mouth marketing as much as or more than younger age groups. 93% of Boomer's are very or somewhat likely to share product information or news with friends.
