About nine out of 10 US consumers ages 12 to 24 use the Internet. That is not surprising. But more than one-half of those ages 65 to 69 are online as well, and Internet-using 70-to-74-year-olds make up 45% of people that age, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Pew noted that the biggest increase in Internet use since 2005 was in the 70-to-75-year-old age group; just over one-quarter of them were online in 2005.

The researcher said that Internet penetration would likely level off over time, but, "for now...young people dominate the online population."



Pew measured the percentages of those who had ever been online. By a stricter definition of Internet users, eMarketer estimates that 78.8% of 12-to-17-year-olds went online at least once per month in 2008.



Pew noted that Internet users in their 20s did not dominate every aspect of online life. Generation X was the group most likely to bank, shop and look for health information online. And baby boomers were just as likely as Gen Yers to make travel reservations on the Web.