Internet Use and Gender Differences
The researchers at the Pew Internet & American Life Project have some useful data about how men and women use the internet differently. Not surprisingly they find that men "are using the internet more intensely than women [and] are still first out of the blocks in trying the latest technologies" while "women are catching up in overall use and are framing their online experience with a greater emphasis on deepening connections with people."
Some of their other conclusions are noteworthy as well:
Men reach farther and wider for topics, from getting financial information to political news.
Women are more likely to see the vast array of online information as a "glut" and to penetrate deeper into areas where they have the greatest interest, including health and religion.Still, our data show that men and women are more similar than different in their online lives, starting with their common appreciation of the internet's strongest suit: efficiency...
Men and women also value the internet for a second strength, as a gateway to limitless vaults of information.
Looks like the virtual world is very much like the "real world" after all.
Here is a link to the report.