Silver Surfers lead to more mature internet

While many people still think of the internet as being the realm of teenage cyberpunks, the more mature citizens of fifty-plus are also starting to make their online mark.

Across the UK, retired people are now switching to the web in massive numbers. Many of these so-called 'silver surfers' use email to stay in touch with relatives, while others track down old war comrades, find recipes quickly or join online learning programmes.

Agencies such as Age Concern, a charity that looks after the interests of older people, are surprised but excited by the enthusiasm that this population group is currently showing for all things internet. And such is the popularity of the web with senior citizens, that supervisors running open access programmes in public libraries are now becoming used to rationing web access.

So how can this interest be measured? Vavo.com, Europe's most popular web portal aimed at the over 45s, claims to have about 233,000 registered users and to have recorded more than five million page impressions since it opened its doors in 1999.

According to a Vavo spokesman, the UK currently has more than 19 million people over 50, which amounts to about 32 per cent of the population. But by 2020, this figure will have risen to more than 50 per cent. This equates to a massive potential market for ebusinesses to tap into.

But what does Vavo mean? "Nothing at all," said the spokesman. "When [former Lycos executive] Richard Spinks set up the site, he asked around. Nobody wanted a name that smacked of old age. One person said call it something utterly meaningless - so we did."

Private Eye pulls it off
Spinks realised there might be a gap in the online market for such a website, after suggesting that a recently widowed relative use the internet to meet new people. His suspicion was confirmed when a speculative notice in Private Eye led to 98 letters landing on his doormat. An idea was born.

Alan Wellings, who heads Community Online, an Adult Education IT initiative in Worcestershire, said: "Many of us don't expect much of old people, but we are now getting very high numbers in all of our centres." Community Online has three primary access sites at local urban centres such as Worcester and Malvern, and a number of smaller sites in outlying rural areas.

The hunger among the retired for learning new skills really shows, Wellings continued. "One class a week is just not enough for many retired people. There are people who I expect to see here every day. Some of them are very motivated and committed - enormously determined, in fact. They just don't give up. Someone said to me: 'Even if it takes me a year to get the hang of this, I'm not giving up,'" he said.

From ham to morse to email
A gentleman from Burton on Trent, Nottinghamshire, is typical of the sort of user Wellings is talking about. "I was originally a radio ham, and used computer based programs to brush up on my Morse code skills. Then, with the help of a friend, I built my own computer. The one I've got now is the third upgrade from that. Mostly I use email to keep up with friends, but I do use the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site to track down relatives and friends from the Forces," he said.

"There's more to it than email and games," agreed Wellings. "Don't forget that for many retired people there was no chance to go to university. Less than one per cent of my generation went. Now 30 per cent of young people do. For many older people, this is their first chance to access further education."

"It's not just about swapping knitting patterns by email, either. It's becoming an important communications tool. It can keep people in touch if they can't physically do so. I think there should certainly be some sort of computer provision for the elderly, perhaps for a one-off fee or a small lease charge," he added.

An Age Concern spokesman echoed similar views. "There is certainly a risk of stereotyping old people here. Some people might think it's a young person's game, but that's very wrong. Older people can really see the point of the web. For many people used to Radio 4 or the television, it's really very remarkable."

And as such, he believes that the web is a potent force for social good. "We at Age Concern would very much like to see free access to the web for older people," he said.

Age concerns
But that's not to say that older people do not have concerns about some aspects of the internet phenomena. Age Concern sponsored a survey of 1,257 people over 50 and found that 70 per cent were afraid of online credit card fraud, 60 per cent were worried about junk email, and 57 per cent were concerned about others gaining unauthorised access to their computer while they were online.

Beryl Skinner, from Berkshire, another committed internet enthusiast, has been retired for ten years, but never seems to find quite enough time to spend on her computer. "I don't just surf - there are all sorts of things I'm into. Tracing old work friends from thirty years ago has started a whole series of email correspondences."

"The more I do it, the more I find out," she said. "More and more people come up to me and ask about it - it's really transformed my social life. One thing I have found out, though, is this: you musn't sit there at the screen all day - it's addictive!"

Now where have you heard that before?