WebWise Solutions

It's official. Despite everyone's best efforts, it seems that there are some fundamental differences in the ways men and women use the Internet.

Yep, that's right. Jack shops, interacts, learns, and researches on the web in measurably different ways than Jill. (Sorry, Gloria Steinem.)

And a senior Jill is going to behave dramatically differently from a junior Jill, throwing an additional monkey wrench into the equation.

Why does this matter to you? Well, if you're trying to reach men and women on the web and get them to join your communities, you need to understand how they work online, and design your pages accordingly.

A fascinating study has just been released by the PEW Internet and American Life Project, shedding some light on the matter.

Here are some tidbits:

• More than men, women are enthusiastic online communicators, and they use email in a more robust way. Women are more likely to feel satisfied with the role email plays in their lives, especially when it comes to nurturing their relationships. And women include a wider range of topics and activities in their personal emails. Men use email more than women to communicate with various kinds of organizations.
• Men are significantly more likely than women to know the latest terms, from RSS feed to phishing, and to have heard about the latest tech-related issues.
• The growth rate for women’s participation in these online activities is greater than the growth rate for men: using government web sites, getting religious information, watching video clips or listening to audio clips, getting news and maps or directions, researching products
• More online men than women perform online transactions. Men and women are equally likely to use the internet to buy products and take part in online banking, but men are more likely to use the internet to pay bills, participate in auctions, trade stocks and bonds, and pay for digital content.
• Men are more avid consumers than women of online information. Men look for information on a wider variety of topics and issues than women do.
• Men are more likely than women to use the internet as a destination for recreation. Men are more likely to: gather material for their hobbies, read online for pleasure, take informal classes, participate in sports fantasy leagues, download music and videos, remix files, and listen to radio.
• Younger women are more likely than younger men to be online; older men are more likely than older women to be online: 86% of women ages 18-29 are online, compared with 80% of men that age. On the other hand, 34% of men 65 and older use the internet, compared with 21% of women that age.

You can download the entire report (free) in PDF format here.

BTW: The PEW Internet and American Life Project is a must-read for any web marketer. Check it out when you are formulating your web strategy.