‘Friending’ grandma

Contrary to conventional wisdom, the best way to reach older women these days might be through the Internet — specifically on their Facebook wall.

“At the turn of the century, we thought older generations would not embrace the Internet, and no doubt, that is true for some,” said Randy Wostratzky, a director at research firm Spectrem Group.

He tested the premise by asking older widows and divorcées with high net worth — $1 million to $25 million, excluding their primary residence — about their Internet usage.

Mr. Wostratzky said he was shocked by the results.

The 78 widows (average age 71) and 105 divorcées (average age 62) surveyed were far more active online than he expected.

The majority of both groups said that they use electronic bill pay, with 56% of the widows and 75% of the divorcees paying at least one bill online.

More than half of the divorcees (59%) said that they prefer to receive electronic statements rather than printed bills. One-third of the widows agreed.

But the biggest surprises concerned social media.

Facebook was the major winner; 69% of the widows and 64% of the divorcées said they visit the site frequently. LinkedIn and YouTube were also popular: Almost 30% of the widows are on the sites, compared with 40% of the divorcées who said they use LinkedIn and 23% who use YouTube.

Among the widows, 13% said they use Twitter and 7% said they use Google+ and Pinterest. Just 2% of the divorcées said they use Twitter or Google+, but 8% have been on Pinterest.