Seniors are also getting hooked on TikTok, enjoying podcasts, & nearly a third of them have received messages with sexual content on social media, according to findings from ’Seniors on the Net’ online survey of the 55+ demographic conducted in March 2024 by BeSocial, a digital agency focused on social media.

They scroll through Facebook more than they spend time watching TV or engaging in family activities, enjoy podcasts, are starting to get hooked on TikTok, and, astonishingly, nearly a third of them have been recipients of sexual content messages on social media – findings from the 'Seniors on the Net' online survey conducted by BeSocial, a digital agency focused on social media, in March this year, shed light on the demographic aged 55 and above.

Following three recent surveys of teenage internet habits, BeSocial has now examined the online presence of those over 55. ‘Findings from 'Seniors on the Net' survey reveal that while traditional media still plays a much larger role in their daily lives compared to younger generations, seniors are spending more time on social media chatting and streaming than consuming traditional media.  More than a third of respondents spend 3–4 hours online daily, with every sixth person spending over 4 hours. In their daily activities, Facebook is their #1 time consuming activity followed by watching TV and various family activities   followed by browsing portals (5th), watching YouTube videos (6th), chatting (7th), and listening to/watching podcasts (10th)' summarizes Mariann Forgács, social media expert and CEO of BeSocial.

BeSocial has conducted surveys on teenage internet habits three times already - most recently last year – and now the company has examined the online presence of those over 55. ‘The findings from the 'Seniors on the Net' survey reveal that while traditional media still plays a much larger role in their daily lives compared to younger generations, social media, chatting, and streaming are carving out their place – in fact, there are online channels where they spend more time than on traditional media. More than a third of respondents spend 3–4 hours online daily, with every sixth person spending over 4 hours. In their daily activities, Facebook takes the lead, followed by watching TV and various family activities, with browsing portals (5th), watching YouTube videos (6th), chatting (7th), and listening to/watching podcasts (10th) following suit,' summarizes Mariann Forgács, social media expert and CEO of BeSocial.

Among the 55+ demographic, respondents said that if they could only use a single platform, the majority (59.7%) would choose Facebook, with a quarter (24.37%) opting for Messenger, and one in ten (10.4%) prioritizing YouTube. However, the online openness of this demographic is evident as 30% of respondents already use TikTok, with one in ten seniors visiting this platform daily. They are also enthusiastic users of Instagram: 47% of respondents are present here to varying degrees. However, their activity levels fluctuate. One-fourth of respondents post on Facebook daily. They primarily comment in closed groups (67.98%) or on friends' posts (67.9%), but nearly a quarter (23.7%) are also willing to share their opinions on news portal posts. However, 9% of respondents never post anything on Facebook.

Although they still watch more traditional TV than other age groups surveyed, 60.03% of seniors are increasingly enthusiastic about following Hungarian-language podcasts. Content available on YouTube is also popular amongst this 55+ demographic.  In the survey, respondents were given a choice of ten content creators from various genres and generations that they had watched at least five videos from.  Accordingly, Friderikusz Sándor ranked first (54.5%), followed by Bödőcs Tibor (44.67%), Pottyondi Edina (44.52%), the Partizán (42.6%), and the Tvrtko a Föld körül channel (31.13%). However, Dancsó Péter, one of the first well-known Hungarian content creators on YouTube, is not their favourite. Only a negligible fraction of respondents (2%) chose him among their followed content creators. Influencers faced similar circumstances. The majority of seniors (41.63%) follow fewer than ten influencers, but every tenth respondent said they had purchased something based on an influencer's recommendation.

Only a fraction (5.6%) of respondents 55+ admitted to falling victim to scams in the online space. However, over half (52.68%) stated that they had encountered scam attempts at least once but found them suspicious and did not fall for them. Seniors feel safest online when they ignore friend requests and messages from strangers (59.06%), while a significant portion (37.99%) also use two-factor authentication. Following the principle of 'better safe than sorry', 43.17% never share their bank card details online, and 9.35% refrain from posting or commenting altogether. Even erotic content finds its way to this demographic. While it might be alarming that 60% of teens have received erotic photos online, for seniors, it's more intriguing that nearly a third (31.9%) have been recipients of sexual content messages.

Men in this demographic navigate the internet with more confidence. At least, they are less likely to admit when they're stuck, either to themselves or to others. According to the survey, only 37.73% of senior men ask for help from family members when they can't find or solve something online, while over half (53.1%) of women 55+ do. However, men are more likely to use TikTok (12.2% vs. 8.39%) and YouTube (42.97% vs. 35.1%) daily than women, who also lag behind in commenting. Surprisingly, men in this age group are more vocal on social media. 31.27% of them share their opinions on Facebook daily, compared to 22.83% of women. Furthermore, 30.67% of male respondents leave comments under news articles on various portals, while for women, this figure is only 19.6%. Men seem to be more conscious internet users. A third of senior male respondents use different passwords everywhere, while only every fifth woman does the same. Additionally, men are far more likely to enable two-factor authentication than women (47.6% vs. 32.67%).

The ‘Seniors on the Net’ survey was conducted by BeSocial in March 2024 through online querying. The survey, although not representative, provided a balanced sample in terms of demographic indicators, with 5598 internet users aged 55 and above residing in Hungary responding to the questions.

The full presentation is available here in pdf format.