AARP Revamps Website With Social Network Features For Over 50s
By Anna Johnson on June 15th, 2010AARP, a U.S. based non-profit organization for adults aged 50 years and older, has revamped its website AARP.org into being more like a social network. The move is largely in recognition of research showing that, among other things, 27 percent of Americans aged 50 and over use social media websites.
AARP Chief Communications Officer Kevin Donnellan said:
“The latest data tells us that more and more, social networking is becoming a part of everyday life for Americans 50+, and boomers in particular. AARP must deliver the same reliable information and first-rate resources we always have, but in a more interactive way, when and where AARP.org users and online community members want it.”
AARP already has an online community of 276,000 members and, no doubt, doesn’t want to see them abandon its community for the likes of Facebook and MySpace.
AARP’s survey of 1,360 adults aged 50+ conducted in May 2010 found that:
49 percent of Americans aged 50 to 64, and 40 percent of all adults aged 50+, consider themselves extremely or very comfortable using the Internet.
Facebook is the most popular social networking site for Americans aged 50+, with 23 percent claiming to prefer it, followed by MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter, all preferred by about 4 percent of survey respondents.
47 percent of adults aged 50+ originally heard about social networking from a family member other than their spouse, and of those, 70 percent heard about it from a child or grandchild.
Among adults aged 50+ who use social media websites, 73 percent are connected to relatives other than children and grandchildren, 62 percent are connected to their children, and 36 percent are connected to grandchildren.
83 percent of those aged 50+ have heard of the Apple iPad, and among those familiar with the device, 11 percent plan to purchase or want one, and 2 percent have already done so. The numbers are even higher for baby boomers aged 50 to 64, with 86 percent reporting they have heard of the iPad and 14 percent planning or wanting to purchase one.
