Ofcom press release: Tablets help drive increase in older people going online

From the Ofcom press release:
"The number of people aged 65 and over accessing the internet has risen by more than a quarter in the past year, driven by a three-fold increase in the use of tablet computers to go online, new Ofcom research reveals.

This has helped to drive overall internet use up from 79% of adults in 2012 to 83% in 2013, according to Ofcom’s Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes Report.

The proportion of people aged over 65 that are accessing the web reached 42% in 2013, up nine percentage points from 33% in 2012, which is a 27% increase over the year. One reason for this is an increase in the use of tablet computers by older people aged 65-74 to go online, up from 5% in 2012 to 17% in 2013.

Nearly all adults under 35 years old now go online (98%). The increase in internet use was driven by three different age-groups: 25-34s (98%, up from 92% in 2012), 45-54s (91%, up from 84%), and, most notably, those over 65."

There are many reasons why tablets are supporting the "drive" to get older people online, for example:

• the touch interface makes it "easier" to use, than keyboard and mouse (or not)

Syed Murad, Michael Bradley, Neesha Kodagoda et al. (2012) Using task analysis to explore older novice participants’ experiences with a handheld touchscreen device, 524. In Contemporary Ergonomics and Human Factors 2012: Proceedings of the International.

Lim, F. S., Wallace, T., Luszcz, M. A., & Reynolds, K. J. (2013). Usability of tablet computers by people with early-stage dementia. Gerontology, 59(2), 174-182.

• the shape of the device is more inviting, aesthetically pleasing and easier to handle
• the operating systems are more smart phone like rather than PC like and potentially easier to handle (and more familiar to current users of smart phones)

Read the full press release here

Ofcom report Media Lives

Reading the most recent Ofcom report on Media Lives which is based on a small number of qualitative interviews with people but carefully selected to be UK representative, it surprised me that the fundamental motives and barriers to acquire media literacy skills have remained largely constant (since the survey started in 2005).

Around social networking sites it reports: "As the use of Facebook matures among our participants, the related privacy issues are becoming more subtle and complex.Users are now more aware and careful about what information they share, and generally more cautious about adding people as friends than they once were. Most commonly, their concerns are about the dangers of certain individuals getting to see sensitive information (e.g. employers, family members), rather than its exposure to the world at large. Increasingly, the Facebook-related dramas recounted by participants and/or their children are an extension of broader personal and/or social issues (e.g. relationship problems, bullying), rather than technology or platform-specific concerns such as internet privacy or viewing of unsuitable content."

Further noticeable are the explosion of downloadable apps and changes in linear TV viewing and radio listening.

I wonder if the idea of the Saturday night family TV show will die...

Read the report here

Ocfom latest report on social networking

From the latest Ofcom qualitative and quantitative research report on social networking: "The rapid growth of social networking sites in recent years indicates that they are now a
mainstream communications technology for many people."

On page 6 they also have labeled groups by attitudes of 'social networkers' (see also page 28)

Also interesting is the awareness around the term 'social networking' page 16.
Only just 1/5th of the report audience has set up their 'profile' and of those 65+ only 3% set up their profile (p17 - 19).
Facebook, MySpace and Bebo are the most popular sites (p 21)
Section 7 on Privacy and Safety (p51) looks at how younger users are underestimating the publicity of their profile.
The last part of the report is a literature review of harm and offence in
social networking p57.

Read the full report