你身边有时髦的"银发网友"吗

　　According to the Daily Mail of October 18, social networking sites are guilty pleasure shared by an astonishingly high number of "silver surfers", research has found。

　　Almost half of female internet users over 55 regularly log on to sites like Facebook and Twitter。

　　Even grandparents are joining the forums and finding that they are often the best way to check up on their families, who can be too busy to actually meet up in person. Older singletons are using the sites as a way to find love。

　　The study of 2,000 older internet users by researcher Mintel found that more than a third of men and women over 55 also visited sites like YouTube to watch videos for free。

　　Almost a fifth of all Britons who visited social networks for the first time last month were aged over 55, the figures show. It is estimated that nearly 100,000 older people have logged on to sites like Facebook for the first time in the past year。

　　Matt King, an analyst at Mintel, said: "Far more older women are using social networking sites than men. We found that women are going online for family orientated reasons. It is a way for them to look at pictures to see what their children and grandchildren have been up to. It's a way for them to keep in touch."

　　An interest in finding out about family extended into the past, with almost a quarter of over-55s going online to research their family tree。

　　The study also found that five percent of over-55s go online to use dating websites。

　　But it is thought that many more are instead using social networking sites to find romance。