Posted in digital citizenship, gadget ownership, parents and technology

Generations and Their Gadgets – from Pew

Click for a larger copy.

The Pew Internet and American Life Project just published (Feb 3, 2011) Generations and Their Gadgets (overview). Researchers surveyed 3001 Americans in late 2010 and discovered a lot about how technology tools and gadgets are used. Click on the image on the right to get a larger image of the summary chart.

I often think about how members of my family use computers, laptops, cell phones. Our three generations are a microcosm of gadget world users. Are we average? Do we have more gadgets or fewer? I don’t know.

  • My mother (83) uses a Dell desktop and occasionally a Dell laptop. My dad (87) uses a Dell laptop and an iPad. They have a cell phone and a landline and are contemplating removing the landline. Mom e-mails a lot, Dad a little.
  • My husband and I have a desktop, a couple of laptops, an iPad, an iPhone, a Blackberry, and a basic cell phone. I text, he does not. We both e-mail a lot. We, too, are contemplating removing the landline.
  • My daughter and her husband have all of the above, but more of them, as well as iPods and two iPhones. They text most of the time and e-mail much less  Their house does not have a landline.

My Thoughts After Reading the Pew Report Continue reading “Generations and Their Gadgets – from Pew”

Posted in digital citizenship, digital parenting, parent education, parents and technology, social media, social networking

Grandparents Are on Social Networks!

According to a December 15, 2010 USA Today article, people over age 65 are the fastest growing group of social networking users. Seniors Surge on Social Networks, by Janis Lloyd, described Generations 2010 by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, a report that examines the variation in Internet and social networking experiences among various age groups.

For adult children whose parents are older seniors, the Pew report presents fascinating data. “While the youngest generations are still significantly more likely to use social network sites, the fastest growth has come from internet users 74 and older: social network site usage for this oldest cohort has quadrupled since 2008, from 4% to 16%.” This change occurred between 2008 and 2010. What a great way for digital native grandchildren to interact with their grandparents.

The USA Today article also points out that the U.S. Administration on Aging has released a guide to help older people learn about life online, from joining social networks to hooking up to Skype and exploring Google.

You might enjoy reading this blog posting from a few months ago when I wrote about discovering how my  mother, in her early 80’s, was using Facebook.