New figures from Forrester Research show that European 43 to 63 year olds are increasingly making use of social media.
Over one third of web users falling into this age group regularly read blogs, forums and other forms of social media, while about ten per cent upload their own content to the internet, the report shows.
Almost half of younger baby boomers - those aged between 43 and 52 - regularly engage with social media, with 41 per cent of 53 to 63 year olds do so, says author of the study Rebecca Jennings.
Social media usage by baby boomers also tends to differ from country to country. In the UK, for example, six per cent of 43 to 63 year olds create social media content while 17 per cent of Italian baby boomers do so.
Jennings notes that while digital marketers are already aware of the importance of social media to younger web users, many are still ignorant of how the medium can be used to reach older consumers.
"Marketers need to open up their social efforts to include this audience by offering them value with useful information and support provided in a social context and by giving them simple opportunities to learn from and help each other," she comments.
According to statistics from comScore, 45 to 54 year olds are 36 per cent more likely than the average Twitter user to visit the microblogging site.
