Digital divide grows with web use (UK Study)

[Matt]

Digital divide grows with web use

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6913918.stm


Some points to note:

"...the way young people use the internet is changing rapidly, with mobile access and social networking growing in popularity."

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"One of its most striking findings is that there is still a huge gap between age groups.

Internet use falls off sharply after the age of 55 and among people who have retired. Only 31% of retired people use the internet, compared with 81% of those in work and 97% of students, a pattern which has persisted since 2003.

There is also a persistent but smaller gender gap, with 5% fewer women going online.

And low income and lack of education are still big barriers to internet use."

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"There has been an enormous increase in the use of search engines such as Google to find information - with 57% mainly using search engines, compared with just 19% in 2005.

For internet users, the web is now a more trusted source of information than television - and the amount of television they watch has declined.

Web users would turn first to the internet to find out a wide range of information, from planning a trip to finding a local school to comparing prices of products they want to buy."

[DJ]

This sounds interesting... I guess that changes how/who you can market to based upon demographics. Also as the worlds pop gets older IM sure this usage will begin to go up!

The internet is taking over!