Baby Boomers Are Cool Too When It Comes To Social Media And The Use Of Smartphones!

I just had to share some high points from an article I found about older folks using smartphones and engaging in social media. While it is no secret that the younger 20 somethings mostly think that anyone over 40 has no business being on social media or digital apps like Instagram or Tik-Tok, they are there and having fun doing it. Older consumers are finding their comfort zone using high tech smartphones and engaging on social platforms.

When it comes to tech and new-media adoption, older generations of Americans continue to gain on millennials. That’s according to the Pew Research Center.
For example, while the share of millennials who say they use social media (86%) has remained largely unchanged since 2012, the shares of Gen Xers, boomers and the “Silent Generation” who use social media have all increased by at least 10 percentage points during this period.

This year, millennials will turn somewhere between 23 and 38; Gen Xers will turn 39 to 54; baby boomers will turn 55 to 73; while “Silents” will turn 74 to 91.
In terms of specific platforms, around three-fourths or more of both millennials and Gen Xers now report using Facebook (84% vs. 74%, respectively).
Boomers and Silents have both increased their Facebook use by double digits since 2015. In fact, the share of Silents using Facebook has nearly doubled in the past four years, from 22% to 37%, Pew reports.

In recent years, older consumers have also increased their usage of consumer technology in a huge way. Among Baby Boomers for example, smartphone usage has increased from 25% in 2011 to 68% today.
Despite a narrowing of the gap between generations, smartphone ownership still clearly declines with age.

Per Pew, more than 90% of millennials count themselves as smartphone owners; followed by 90% of Gen Xers; 68% of boomers; and 40% of Silents.
As for smartphone-only Web users, 19% of millennials fit into this category, along with 17% of Gen Xers; 11% of boomers and 15% of Silents.

Consumer opinion about the role of technology also continues to vary with age.
For instance, 73% of online millennials said the Web has been mostly a good thing for society, compared with 63% of Silents.

Across the board, American's take on the societal impact of the Web has recently become less positive, according to Pew.
Among Gen Xers, for example, those who believe the Web has been mostly a positive force in society declined from 80% in 2014 to 69% in 2018. These are interesting stats!
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-Roy

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Tags: #babyboomers, #socialmedia, #smartphones