74% of consumers age 64+ use e-mail on a regular basis which is 1% higher than teenagers

Another headline that grabbed my attention when I saw it was from a Pew Internet study. It said that 74% of consumers age 64+ use e-mail on a regular basis which was 1% higher than teenagers. My initial reaction was “wow” I didn’t think email was dying that quickly with teens. Do teenagers really view email as “so last generation?” My research shows that the phone and not the PC has become the core technology device for younger generations and with it texting has replaced some emails but it still seemed odd. The Pew Internet & American Life Project noted the same observation, “At the same time, email has lost some ground among teens.” But the real story was that the headline captured a percent of a percent (online Seniors using email) and this can quite often lead to inaccurate conclusions – more Seniors use email than teenagers – 74% to 73%. The real numbers are actually that twice as many teens use email as Seniors – 67% to 33% - but that is not much of a headline. As the graph indicates Senior’s are still way behind in getting online. This should continue to change as Boomers age because they have already adapted and will continue to adopt the Internet.