Trends on Tuesday: People Over 55 Soon to Be Mobile-Majority Users

Jul 28, 2015

In July, comScore released a research paper, The Global Mobile Report: How Multi-Platform Audiences & Engagement Compare in the U.S., Canada, UK and Beyond, covering a lot of areas from smartphone penetration to Android vs. Apple preferences.

The most impactful trend for government agencies might be best communicated through this graphic:

USA, UK, and Canada Demographics for Share of Time Spent by Platform. Smartphones are now driving the highest portion of digital media time spent amongst Millennials age 18 to 34, a dynamic that is most pronounced in the US where they account for 61 percent, but is also true in Canada (47 percent) and the U.K. (50 percent). Desktop internet usage still accounts for a big slice of internet time among those age 55 and over in all three markets.

In the U.S., tablets and smartphones are driving the majority of digital media usage for 18-to 54-year-olds. People 55 and older are on the cusp of breaking the 50% barrier for mobile and tablet usage.

The exact percentage of device time is a little different than the Millennial Media report we shared a couple weeks ago, but the trend is the same—young people use mobile as their first and most frequent digital platform, and people over 55 are also quickly making that shift.

Read more mobile trends and how to prepare your agency to be mobile-friendly on DigitalGov.

Originally posted by Will Sullivan on Jul 28, 2015
Jul 28, 2015