79% of Americans do this...

...Go online.

Lot's of info about Generational use of the internet in this report from Mediapost:

Generational Disparities in Internet Use

A new Pew Research study notes that there are still notable differences by generation in online activities, but the dominance of the Millennial generation that was documented in the first "Generations" report in 2009 has slipped in many activities.

This is the second report by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project exploring how different generations use the internet. All the generation labels used in these reports, with the exceptions of "Younger Boomers" and "Older Boomers," are the names conventionalized by William Strauss and Neil Howe in their book, Generations: The History of America's Future. The Pew Project "Generations reports" makes the distinction between younger and older Boomers, but Pew separated Younger Boomers and Older Boomers here because enough research has been done to suggest that the two decades are distinct generational groups.

Generations
Generation name	Birth years, Ages in 2010	% of total adult population	% of internet-using population
Millennials	Born 1977-1992, Ages 18-33	30%	35%
Gen X	Born 1965-1976, Ages 34-45	19	21
Younger Boomers	Born 1955-1964, Ages 46-55	20	20
Older Boomers	Born 1946-1954, Ages 56-64	14	13
Silent Generation	Born 1937-1945, Ages 65-73	7	5
G.I. Generation	Born -1936, Age 74+	9	3
Source: Pew Research, December 2010

Milliennials, those ages 18-33, remain more likely to access the internet wirelessly with a laptop or mobile phone. In addition, they still clearly surpass their elders online when it comes to:

• Use of social networking sites
• Use of instant messaging
• Using online classifieds
• Listening to music
• Playing online games
• Reading blogs
• Participating in virtual worlds

However, internet users in Gen X (those ages 34-45) and older cohorts are more likely than Millennials to engage in several online activities, including visiting government websites and getting financial information online.

Among the major trends in online activities:

• 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%.
• The percentage of all adult internet users who watch video online jumped 14 points in the past two years, from 52% in May 2008 to 66% in May 2010.
• 51% of all online adults listen to music online, compared with 34% the last time this question was asked, in June 2004. While Millennials used to be by far the most avid listeners, Gen Xers and Younger Boomers are catching up.
• As of May 2010, 53% of online adults have used a classified ads website such as Craigstlist, up from 32% in September 2007.
• Additionally, searching for health information, an activity that was once the primary domain of older adults, is now the third most popular online activity for all internet users 18 and older.

Generations Online
Generation	Age Group	% Who Go Online
Millennials	Ages 18-33	95%
Gen X	Ages 34-45	86
Younger Boomers	Ages 46-55	81
Older Boomers	Ages 56-64	76
Silent Generation	Ages 65-73	58
G.I. Generation	Age 74+	30
All online adults	Age 18+	79
Source: Pew Research, December 2010

Seventy-nine percent of all American adults go online, a number that has remained relatively steady since early 2006. While most generations have internet adoption rates of at least 70%, internet use drops off significantly for adults over age 65: only 58% the Silent Generation and 30% of the G.I. Generation go online. As a result, younger generations continue to be over-represented in the online population, with adults ages 45 and younger constituting about 56% of the online population, despite making up only 49% of the total adult population. The Millennial generation is particularly prominent online

Generations Online Vs. Generations Offline (% Of U.S. Adult Population)
	Millennials	Gen X	Younger Boomers	Older Boomers	Silent Generation	G.I. Generation (74+)
Overall pop	30	19	20	14	7	9
Online pop	35	21	30	13	5	3
Source: Pew Research, December 2010

31% of non-internet users say that the main reason they do not go online is that they are simply not interested in doing so. 12% cite not having a computer, and 10% say that it would be too expensive.

Main Reasons For Not Using The Internet
Reason	% of Respondents
All offline adults Age 18+ % who do not use the internet	21%
Just not interested	31
Don't have a computer	12
Too expensive	10
Too difficult	9
It's a waste of time	7
Don't have a access	6
Don't have time to learn	6
Too old to learn	4
Don't want/need it	4
Just don't know how	2
Physically unable	2
Worried about viruses/spyware/spam	1
Other	5
Source: Pew Research, December 2010

Online Activities (% of Generation Group)
	% Engaging
Activity	Teens	Millennials	Gen X	Younger Boomers	Older Boomers	Silent Gen.	G.I. Gen.	All adults Age 18+
Go online	93%	95%	86%	81%	76%	58%	30%	79%
Teens and/or Millennials are more likely to engage in the following activities compared with older users
Watch a video	57	80	66	62	55	44	20	66
Use social network sites	73	83	62	50	43	34	16	61
Send IMs	67	66	52	35	30	29	4	47
Play online games	78	50	38	26	28	25	18	35
Read blogs	49	43	34	27	25	23	15	32
Visit a virtual world	8	4	4	4	3	3	1	4
Activities where Gen X users or older generations dominate
Visit a government website	*	61	75	73	69	56	41	67
Get financial info	*	33	38	41	41	44	30	38
For some activities, the youngest and oldest cohorts may differ, but there is less variation overall
Send or read e-mail	73	96	94	91	93	90	88	94
Use a search engine	*	92	87	86	87	82	72	87
Look for health info	31	85	84	84	85	76	59	83
Get news	62	76	79	76	76	67	54	75
Buy a product	48	68	66	64	69	59	57	66
Make travel reservations	*	64	67	70	67	61	53	66
Bank online	*	62	62	58	56	44	35	58
Use online classifieds	*	64	58	49	42	30	17	53
Listen to music online	*	65	58	48	38	25	12	51
Look for religious info	*	31	35	34	33	26	28	32
Rate a product, service or person	*	32	32	29	40	38	16	32
Participate in an auction	*	28	31	25	25	13	7	26
Make a charitable donation	*	21	24	24	23	20	13	22
Download podcasts	*	26	20	20	16	12	10	21
Work on own blog	14	18	16	11	11	8	5	14
Source: Pew Research, December 2010

Editor's Note:

This is a very complete and complex report and, if the subject is relevant to you, I urge readers to pursue the entire text summary and PDF file for additional clarification and information.

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