2012 closed with 15 million internet users, growth in mobile web views of 74% and a population of 11 million video streamers, Nielsen’s ‘Australian Online Landscape Review’ reports.

Each of these figures, traditionally dominated by younger generations, are now contributed to by an equal number of ‘silver surfers’ as the older generations try their hand at all aspects of internet use.

There were around four million Australians that didn’t steam video during any of their online sessions during December, but the assumption that these hail from older generations is false.

The 50 years and above age bracket in fact makes up the largest segment of internet users both in terms of the overall online population and the population of video streamers, comprising of around 31% of each category.

When it comes to the amount of video watched however, young Gen Ys – 18-24 year olds more likely to be studying than in an office job – far outstrip any other segment. An average member of this group streamed 246 videos in December, 60 more than older Gen Ys (25-34 year olds) and almost four times the number of streams accessed by those aged 50 and above.

Most of the videos being watched are accessed through social platforms, publishers and dedicated video sites such as YouTube and VEVO. Mi9’s network served the most video content out of the publishers, with nearly 2 million Australians streaming video on ninemsn or one of its other sites. ABC’s network ranked second with a reach of 1.1 million, while Fairfax’s smh.com.au out-streamed direct competitor News Limited’s properties, which failed to rank in the top 10.

In the overall website visitation rankings, Google and Facebook maintained their place as the top online brands by audience size. Skype made a rare appearance in the top 10 during December, possibly as people called home during the Christmas period.

The escalating use of mobile continued in December 2012 with mobile page views increasing to more than 334 million, a jump of 74% since January. Mobile traffic however still remains a small portion of the 38 billion page views recorded by Nielsen’s hybrid methodology for the period.