“What do you typically do when you’re having a problem like that?” L, the vivacious 80-something woman who was participating in one of Creating Results’ web usability testing sessions, laughed. “I call my son,” she said, “and he always tells me it’s operator error.”
L was one of five seniors who participated in our web research that day. All were residents of continuing care retirement communities in their late 70s and 80s. None was afraid of or intimidated by computers. They were occasionally frustrated. Not sure of the value of some online features. But certainly not overwhelmed by technology.
If marketers read the mainstream press, you’d likely have the idea that the Silent and Greatest Generations are gripped by “sheer terror” when faced with computers. The latest offender was the Boston Globe, with their article “For Elderly, Wired World Holds Terror – or Delight.“ Which is why we applaud aging technology expert Laurie Orlov for calling them on it. She writes – “Enough: Newspapers are fueling terror among the elderly and computers.”
This one from the Boston Globe searches for a way to write condescendingly about seniors and their fear and loathing when it comes to using a computer. We’re so lucky — a Harvard professor has offered their ‘insight’ about the acceleration of the ‘pace of change’ and the Cambridge Health Alliance, offering insight on how it takes longer to learn new things. Gee, was this a study? Oops, no, just a few anecdotes, vastly enhanced by the entertaining comments from seniors who have been using computers for years. Maybe that’s how they read the Globe — which would be a revenue-free access method.
(For both articles, check out the comments for additional insights.)
If you’re marketing to the Silent Generation or the Greatest Generation, we urge you to look beyond anecdotes and “me-search.” Instead, look at the research from the Pew Research Center (38% of 65+ Americans are online, 6% of Silents have a social networking profile, they are divided on whether technology isolates us or brings us together), Nielsen Online or eMarketer. The wired world is not either black and white; seniors react and adapt in more ways than either terror or delight.
You also can help Creating Results fight stereotypes by participating in ongoing research. If you’re over 40 and have an opinion, please take our current surveys (roughly 3 minutes, anonymous):
- Web Preferences http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/249736/40-plus-web-preferences
- Social Media (finally, a chance for those who aren’t involved in social networking sites to say why not!) http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/233384/40-plus-social-media
Not over 40? Please share these links with someone who is. We’ll be sharing the findings here and at industry conferences, doing our part to move marketing beyond this (as Orlov calls it ) “fear-and-loathing-in-computerland.”
