| Baby Boomers Download Internet Video More Than Stereotype Suggests |
| Friday, 20 April 2007 | |
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Belying the popular image of the Internet as the domain of the young, baby boomers are a “formidable presence” on the Web, according to a recent eMarketer article, which cites new data from BIGresearch and Arbitron/Edison Media Research. The latter survey indicates that over a fourth of online video viewers are 45 or older.
According to BIGresearch, the average age of all adult Internet users in the U.S. is 44.6. The average age of those who “regularly or occasionally” download video is 39.4. The average age of women who download video is 41.2 while the average male downloader is 38.3 years old. While these numbers show the average online video viewer was born after the end of the baby boom around 1964, those born before the mid 1960s are apparently watching Internet video more than has been previously surmised. The new data differ with earlier surveys, which indicated a lower average age of video consumers. Research for 2004 and 2005 from the Pew Internet & America Life Project and Princeton Survey Research Associates found that Internet users who download videos tend to be 28 years old or younger. According to David Hallerman of eMarketer, many reporters still rely on the older data. “This is a case of reporting not quite catching up to reality.” “Third Agers [Baby Boomers] are regularly stereotyped as being technophobes and slow to jump on the technology bandwagon,” says Sharon Whitely of ThirdAge, a boomer-focused research firm. “However, not only are they online, they’re surprisingly a formidable presence on the Internet.” |