"Elderly escape loneliness by going online"

BBC Online Network: Elderly escape loneliness by going online http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1977000/1977823.stm May 13 2002: Going online has become the number one hobby for British pensioners, reports the BBC. According to a new survey conducted by BTopenworld, around 83 percent of seniors in the UK go online on a regular basis. The study indicates that pensioner’s mainly use the Internet to keep in touch with friends and family, and send an average of four emails a day. The Internet is particularly popular with older women, according to the survey findings. Nearly half of female seniors go online for the first time after they retire, and 35 percent of them say that the Net has offered them a wider circle of friends. According to the report, the Internet has also helped older people to feel more comfortable with modern society. Almost two-thirds of silver surfers in the UK said they felt more open to new experiences after having been online, while 42 percent felt they were more tolerant to the way the world was developing.