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How to Thrive in a Zero-Click Content World

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Though the adoption of emerging Web activities such as social media is still dominated by Millennials, older generations are making sharp gains, according to a survey from Pew Research. Moreover, key Internet activities such as email and search are becoming more uniformly popular across all age groups.

Email and search engine use are the backbone of online activity across all age groups:

  • 88% of online adults age 74+ say they use email, as do 94% of all online adults. However, communicating via email is not as popular among the young with 73% of teens (age 12-17) doing so.
  • 87% of online adults have used the Internet to search for information; 83% have used the Internet to search for health information, making this activity the third-most popular among all online adults.

Most online adults, even among the oldest generation, buy products and get news online:

  • 57% of adults age 74+ purchase products online, compared with 66% of all adults.
  • 54% of adults age 74+ read online news content, compared with 75% of all adults.

Online adults age 56-73 are slightly more likely than younger adults to have rated a product, service, or person online, and are just as likely to have donated to charity online.

Meanwhile, blogging, once the domain of teens and Millennials, is now relatively common throughout most age groups.

Below, other findings from the Online Generations 2010 report, issued by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project and Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Where Millennials Lead

Online Millennials (roughly age 18-33) are more likely than all online adults to access the Internet wirelessly via laptop or mobile phone (82% vs. 59%). They also surpass their elders online in the use of key Internet activities, including:

  • Social Networking Sites: 83% of Millennials use social network sites, compared with 50% of Younger Boomers (age 46-55) and 16% of adults age 74+.
  • Instant Messaging: 67% of teens (age 12-17) and 66% of Millennials communicate via instant message, compared with 35% of Younger Boomers.
  • Blogs: 43% of Millennials read blogs, compared with 27% of Younger Boomers.

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Online Generation Gap Shrinking: Still, Millennials Rule

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