These days, traffic on the World Wide Web (www) is more mature than it used to be. New research shows more and more seniors are going online doing everything from checking e-mails to watching videos.

While people 65 and older still make up less than 10 percent of regular internet users, the number of seniors actively using the internet has increased by more than 55 percent in the last five years, according to a study by the Nielsen Company. Nielsen is a marketing and media information company which tracks, among other things, how people consume internet, television and other forms of media. The study found that internet use among seniors increased from 11.3 million active users in November 2004 to 17.5 million in November 2009. Furthermore, the growth of women users in the last five years has outpaced the growth of men by six percent.

Fuelling some of this growth is the increasing number of websites produced specifically for seniors. Seniorsinfo.ca, for example, provides seniors, their families and care providers with easy access to information and services provided by Canada's federal, provincial and municipal governments. So far 29 municipalities have linked mini websites to the main portal. Visit www.seniorsinfo.ca for information on the Ontario Senior Homeowners' Property Tax Grant, retirement homes, health and social services and much more.

More seniors are now visiting websites popular among younger web surfers as well. According to the Nielsen Study, YouTube ranked number 4 among popular seniors' websites. Facebook took the number 3 spot - the year before Facebook ranked number 45.

YouTube and Facebook are commonly referred to as social media websites. These sites enable users to collaborate, network and share ideas around common interests. Content is made by internet users themselves. This general definition comes from Wikipedia.com - a social media site that allows visitors to edit and update content published by other visitors. YouTube is a video sharing web site. Visitors can film videos and post them, or simply watch videos posted by other users. According to YouTube, visitors add 13 hours of content every minute. Facebook is a social networking website. A visitor creates a profile to share photos, comments, videos, links, and much more with other visitors that are part of his/her social circle. Some seniors are using Facebook and YouTube to keep in touch with grandchildren by sharing photos and videos.

However, social media also can be used to build support for serious and not so serious causes. Fans of actress Betty White, for example, created a Facebook page to collect petitions to convince the NBC television network to let the former Golden Girl star host Saturday Night Live. On the other hand, social media tools like Facebook can be used by organizations working on behalf of seniors to mobilize support for various social issues and initiatives - for and about seniors.

Related links: Six Million More Seniors Using the Web than Five Years Ago
The Nielsen Company
Facebook.com
YouTube.com
Wikipedia.org
www.seniorsinfo.ca