Earlier this year, we were told by our own sample of internet users aged over 55 that for 86% being online has improved their lives with a key reason being that they can do things quicker (71%). Long queues at banks or the hassle and cost of posting cheques can be easily avoided with the click of a button.

However we also know that for many security fears and identify theft as a result of internet transactions is still a major concern and the thought of laying personal account details to bear on a computer screen is probably a step too far right now.

People also still want and need the interaction with service providers and a trip to their bank, for which many have a well-worn relationship, can fulfil that desire. Certainly at Digital Unite we don’t believe the internet should be an exclusive tool that negates the need for human contact but should instead be used to enhance day-to-day living.

That said as the modern age is increasingly demanding and incentivising people to engage with products and services in a cost-effective and time-efficient way being online is becoming an essential requirement for everyone. And here’s where organisations such as ours come in.

Having worked with the over 55s for the last 15 years we know that the process of engagement isn’t one that can be hurried or enforced – a slow, measured and supportive approach is essential to ensure that once older people experience life online they remain interested and willing to explore further. Maybe that’s through supporting self-learning, or through providing tuition, local support or formally trained mentors, one size certainly does not fit all.

Our research sample also told us that being online makes them feel more like part of modern society (81%). More work at both a national and local level must be done to ensure many other thousands of older people not yet using the internet have the chance to feel like that too.

The ‘snooping’ is made easier by couples sharing their passwords, a trait that is more common in under-25s (over half) but is still fairly common in the 45 to 54 age group (a third).

The research also highlighted people’s willingness to exaggerate or even lie on their social media accounts and similar services, with a huge 34% admitting to lying or creating false identities. Around one in 10 men and women lied about their ages, while women also fibbed about weight, and men about financial status.

Older people, according to the findings, are more likely than under-25s to fib online, with ‘baby boomers’ more than three times as likely to have lied to enhance their career prospects than twenty-somethings.

“Our research raises some serious questions around privacy and the boundaries people are willing to cross in their own online dealings,” said Simon Ellson from Norton told the Telegraph.

It’s tricky to tell whether people are being truthful online, even when they are old friends and acquaintances.

To help protect yourself, we have many guides on Internet Security and Facebook safety in our Learning Zone.

The report says that Facebook was the most visited website through a handheld device, with a massive 43 million hours spent on it in December 2010.

While adults en masse are taking to smartphones with aplomb, smartphone use differs in popularity through different demographic groups. Some 58% of men own a smartphone, to 42% of women. But in younger age groups, 52% of teenage girls use a smartphone with 48% of boys using one.

In these younger groups, BlackBerry was the most popular brand – which is likely to be due to the instant messenger facility on BlackBerrys which provides a free way to chat among friends.

The report also looked at adult use of the internet through broadband connections. By far the most popular activity (89%) was sending and receiving email, while a large 61% used internet banking online and 41% watch TV through their connection.

The report also found differences in the age groups when it came to concerns. Just 6% of 16-24-year-olds were worried about their privacy online, compared with 13% of 55 to 64-year-olds.

To make sure you use the internet in a safe way, see our guides on internet safety.

Read more

How to choose a smartphone
Help choosing between iPhones, BlackBerrys and Android handsets.

Internet banking: how to bank online
A simple guide to signing up for online banking and making a payment.

How to watch TV online
You’ll never need to miss any of your favourite programmes or leave your computer to watch the box.

Tweet Pie – The World’s Shortest Recipe Book has been put together solely from recipes of 140 characters or fewer, and sourced through Twitter.

There are 50 ‘twecipes’ and they have been selected by tiny recipes expert, Craig Dugas and include submissions from top chefs as well as the general rabble of amateur cooks and enthusiasts.

Tweet Pie can be bought through the charity’s eBay page but it isn’t the only example of Twitter-generated books.

Earlier this year, an entirely crowdsourced book of essays and art was put together by Tokyo-based bloggers and Twitter users to raise money for victims of the Japanese earthquakes.

The ‘quake book’, named 2: 46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan Earthquake,  was put together in just seven days and is available free as a download and for £9.99 as a hardcopy through Amazon. All proceeds go to the Red Cross.

If you’re tempted to give Twitter a try, our Learning Zone guides can get you started.

Read more

What is Twitter? – An introduction to the micro-blogging network.

How to use Twitter – A simple step-by-step guide to get you started.

How to tweet – You have the Twitter account, you have things to say: now it’s time to get tweeting!

Households are more likely now to have a mobile phone than a landline: 16% of households don’t even have a landline any more. This rise in use of mobile technologies is a trend that we’d expect to continue over the next years. Heartening to see that the average cost of mobile is also steadily sinking, with the average minute on a mobile now (8.8p) costing just over half as much as it was in 2004 (15.1p).

Another trend we’d like to see continuing is the number of older people who are getting the benefits of digital technologies and in particular the internet. The Ofcom Customer Experience report doesn’t track this directly; it looks at broadband take-up instead. Whilst this is a slightly different kettle of fish, the trend is clear: in 2005, only one in ten over 65s had broadband connections. In 2010, this is now about half. But that’s still a big number of people who are missing out, and amongst the over 75s it’s still only about a quarter. So there’s plenty still to do.

Like every government-funded organisation, Ofcom is required to make serious savings under the current austerity measures. The decision has been made to reduce some of the governance structures, and in particular, the Communications Consumer Panel and the Advisory Committee for Older and Disabled People (ACOD) are being discontinued… It’s our hope that both their good work and the learning that’s come out of it, will continue in another form. It’s just too important not to.

Laura Osborne, aged 90, said: “The schoolchildren are absolutely fantastic.  They’re so polite and very intelligent – they’ve taught us a lot!  Coming down and using one of the computers makes life less lonely, it’s good company.  You can explore and find out different things, it’s very interesting.”

The learning in the scheme has been made possible via the Get Digital programme. It is so heartening to see it in action: we thoroughly recommend having a look at what went on.

Do you have stories and outcomes from your events? Let us know!

‘I have been very fortunate to have been invited to give a talk about Digital Inclusion to the second ICT Symposium in Trinidad.  I am writing this from the venue in Port of Spain – the capital of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T).  Yes; I know; it’s rough but someone’s got to do it!

‘My invitation to speak arose a year ago when I was President of the British Computer Society and had contacts with  members all around the world. Planning came to fruition and the Symposium took place from 14-16^th November.  About 300 delegates from all over the Caribbean met to hear about progress being made in the Caribbean and in Trinidad in the application of ICT to the public and private sectors.  Trinidad is not a backward island by any means. Situated only a few miles from Venezuela, T&T benefits from access and rights to vast resources of oil and natural gas. It also has the world’s largest deposits of asphalt.  Unlike the majority of the Caribbean islands its principal source of income is therefore not based on tourism but on energy, banking and investment.

‘T&T also has a thriving telecommunications and IT industry and is well up in the league table of Caribbean countries with respect to internet access and mobile phone usage.  However, it exhibits the same problems and challenges as UK in reaching out to the under-privileged and poorly-connected element of the population.  Much is being done to reduce the Digital Divide and the numbers of those who are excluded.

‘I was able to describe the work of Digital Unite and our approach to the older generation.  My talk seemed to go down well and there were choruses of agreement at all the issues I raised and recognition of exactly the same challenges being faced.  They too have a longer life expectancy and ever-increasing numbers of older people.  Many of their inhabitants are poor fisher-folk and they find it hard to convince them of the benefits – or even the need – for the internet.  Yet, with Government services being delivered on line more and more, the time will come when some form of connectivity – even the most basic – might be essential.

‘As in UK, the older generation in T&T are proud and therefore reluctant to show their ignorance by attending computer classes.  T&T have just launched the award-winning TT Connect, which is a suite of services for online government.  One of these – the latest – was unveiled at our conference by the Prime Minster. It is called TT Connect Express and is a fleet of buses kitted out with work stations, wash rooms, disabled access and human assistance which will tour the islands much like a mobile library. Recognising that education in early years is essential to building a technology aware population, the Government has funded one laptop per child nationwide.

‘The short stay demonstrated to me that the issues we face in UK with digital exclusion – in particular among the older generation – are no different to those over here and, I guess, are the same the whole world over’.

Sounds like people are people everywhere! A big thank you to Alan for letting us all know what he’s been up to (tough assignment that it clearly was). 

Have you been involved with digital inclusion in other countries? Does the story look the same or different to you? We’d be interested to hear your comments.

Valerie is the amazing welsh grandmother who’s is incredibly actively involved with intergenerational work, in her Learning with Grandma initiative.

She’s off to Lyon on 29 Nov to take part in a seminar about encouraging older volunteers, and from there goes on to Paris, where she is speaking in the opening session of a major event, about how younger people can help older people become comfortable with using the internet and new technologies, but just as importantly, making this learning a two-way street, so that traditional skills are not lost with the passage of time and the march of progress.

All due respect to Valerie, and we look forward to hearing further about her adventures!

First up, here’s our tutor Andrew Bailey on BBC Radio Stoke. Brian Eisenburg was lyrical both on ITV Daybreak as well as BBC Three Counties (2 hours 10mins in) (well done for the double, Brian!). And one of Lynne Thompson’s residents in the Get Digital scheme has a star turn on BBC Northampton (31 mins in).

Did you know already about the Airlie Silver Surfers’ remote health consultation project, about the fact that half of women over 55 are on Facebook, and even the Independent has noticed that Peggy Archer has been learning to surf the web? We’ve got the Daily Mail giving us tips about saving money online, and our own Get Digital programme is also in the news.

It’s fantastic to see all this publicity and coverage, and we’d still like to give the last word to Nancy, a resident on on of our Get Digital schemes – “[The Internet] is the kind of thing that if you don’t get a handle on, you’re going to be lost in this world. I’ve been dying to get computers. My family and grandchildren are all in America and they have Skype and a webcam and I can talk to them. It’s just opened up a whole world.”

Go Nancy!

Rory Cellan-Jones was also talking to John Humprhys on Today, with a clip of Peggy Woolsey from The Archers and Martha Lane Fox talking about the importance of the campaign as social justice.

There’s a lot going on for this year’s Get Online Week!