Internet activities by age group

Fact recorded on: January 27, 2006. Categories: Internet usage.

Pew Internet & American Life Project published an aggregate table of online activities by age group.Internet users ages 29-69 are more likely than internet users in other age groups to engage in online activities that require some capital: travel reservations and online banking. In both cases, internet users with high-speed access at home are more likely to do these activities than those with dial-up connections at home, but again, there are notable generational differences. Fully 50% of internet users between 29 and 40 years old bank online, compared to 38% of their younger peers (internet users age 18-28). Buying a product online is equally popular with all internet users except those at either end of the age scale: teens and internet users age 70 or older.

Online activity by age group
  Age group  
Activity, % 12-17 18-28 29-40 41-50 51-59 60-69 70+ Avg
Go online 87 84 87 79 75 54 21 72
Online games 81 54 37 29 25 25 32 36
School research   73 60 61 48 33 14 57
Instant message 75 66 52 38 42 33 25 47
Text message   60 44 29 15 11 8 35
Get info
about a school		 57 59 42 50 40 30 14 45
Download music 51 45 28 16 14 8 5 25
Read blogs 38 41 30 20 21 19 16 27
Download video 31 27 22 14 8 8 1 18
Create a blog 19 20 9 3 9 3 4 9
Get health info   73 84 80 84 68 72 79
Travel reservations   50 72 64 64 59 60 63
Job research   44 59 59 54 31 13 51
Use gov sites   41 56 64 60 55 45 54
Bank online   38 50 44 37 35 22 41
Religious info 26 30 38 24 28 28 28 30
Use email 89 88 92 90 94 90 89 91
Get news 76 72 76 75 70 74 68 73
Product research   79 80 83 79 74 60 78
Online purchase 43 68 69 68 67 65 41 67
Job hunting 30 62 51 40 36 17 2 44
Use a photo service   39 38 31 32 31 30 34
Rate a person
or product		   36 34 27 31 24 8 30
Search for a person   31 31 23 23 24 29 27
Participate in
an online auction		   26 29 25 20 18 6 24
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project

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