Seniors and the internet

NEW YORK (Reuters) – More older adults are entering cyberspace — primarily for e-mail, according to a semi-annual report from United Business Media's (UBM.L) Mediamark Research Inc. released on Thursday.
About 43 percent of adults aged 55 to 64 use the Web, up from 36 percent six months ago, Mediamark said in its report, which collected data between March 2000 and April 2001.
Use of e-mail by older Americans has risen 46 percent from 18 months ago and 20 percent in the last six months.
“While fewer older Americans engage in other Internet activities, they are growing in tracking their investments, making purchases, making travel plans and just browsing,'' the report found.
Every two in three people or 133 million U.S. adults have access to the Web either at home or work, Mediamark said.
No longer are older Americans online rookies. About 41 percent have been online one to three years and 48 percent have been online for more than four years, according to AOL's senior wired survey conducted by Digital Marketing Services Inc.
While 95 percent of older Americans in the AOL survey said they used the Web to e-mail and instant message, about 77 percent also said they research travel and vacation options online and 58 percent look for medical and health information and resources.
About 60 percent shop online and 44 percent play games online, AOL said.
The top “senior wired cities'' included Fort Myers, Fla., Naples, Fla., Tampa, Fla., St. Petersburg, Fla. and Sarasota, Fla.. Boston and Seattle were also toward the top of the list in terms of amount of times spent by adults over 55, according to AOL.