Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Using The Internet

It may surprise you to hear that women use the Internet much more than men.  Here are some stats from a recent article on a technology website:

- Women are the majority of users of social networking sites and spend 30% more time on the sites than men.

- In e-commerce, female purchasing power is significant.  Sites like Etsy, Zappos, Groupon, and Gilt Groupe are all driven by female customers.  According to Gilt, women are 70% of its customer base and create 74% of its revenue.  77% of Groupon’s customers are female.

- There are many new e-commerce companies that harness the power of female consumers, such as Modcloth, Kings Lane, Plum District, Stella & Dot, Rent the Runway, BirchBox, Shoedazzle, Zazzle, Callaway Digital Arts, and Shopkick.  These companies leverage “girl power” and the majority of them were founded by women.

- On Facebook, women are not only the majority of users, they drive 62% of activity in messages, updates and comments and 71% of fan activity.

- More women use Twitter despite its reputation as a techie-insider’s (male) product.  Women follow more people, tweet more, and have more followers on average than men.


What do you think of this?  Does it match your experience on the Internet?

The article says these statistics shouldn't be surprising because women are "more social, more interested in relationships and connections, and better at multi-tasking."  Does that sound accurate to you?
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21 comments:

  1. Fashion Confessions of a MommyMay 10, 2011 at 2:14 AM

    Does not surprise me at all. I enjoyed reading all the stats.

    Daphne.
    http://fashiondivamommy.blogspot.com

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  2. dimiMay 10, 2011 at 2:38 AM

    Yes, pretty much! This doesn't surprise me at all. That's the idea I had so far. Women are more social, so it makes sense! (and we can multitask!)

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  3. poetMay 10, 2011 at 2:51 AM

    I do think there's a tendency for women to be more interested in connecting and communicating than in competing, but I don't think that difference is innate. Sadly, those who get most attention on the internet (journalists, well-known bloggers who talk about "important" stuff) are still men...

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  4. EmmaMay 10, 2011 at 3:40 AM

    This is a very interesting article. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. TiffMay 10, 2011 at 8:18 AM

    This does not surprise me either! I am definitely on the computer a lot more then my husband!

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  6. LikeSpinningPlatesMay 10, 2011 at 8:30 AM

    Interesting stats! Yea, that doesn't surprise me haha. Women are always on chatting with friends, posting facebook statuses, tweeting, uploading pics, blogging etc. OR ONLINE SHOPPING!! haha. That last one excited me. I'm a dork.

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  7. FrancyMay 10, 2011 at 9:12 AM

    No, it doesn't really surprise me. I have noticed that I only have one male friend who Facebooks on a regular basis. I also realized I don't even talk to any men on Twitter ... they're all women! I agree with what everyone has said so far. There is a tendency for women to want to socialize and feel connected to others. I know there are many negatives to these social networking sites, but one of the big pluses for me has been the ability to still communicate with people I care about, even when I am super busy or unavailable otherwise. Great post, thanks!!

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  8. Twenty.SomethingMay 10, 2011 at 9:50 AM

    This definitely matches my experience... especially when I compare myself to my boyfriend and my brothers!

    Thanks for sharing... it's super interesting!

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  9. AshleyMay 10, 2011 at 11:07 AM

    It doesn't surprise me either. I don't know any guys who are obsessed with checking their FBs (except this one guy at work who sits on it allllll day despite it being against company policy). I don't know if women are more social than men...I just think they're social in different ways.

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  10. TanviMay 10, 2011 at 12:24 PM

    It doesn't surprise me either. Like I always tell my husband - Women make this world (and economy) go round. If women stopped doing what they do everything would come to a stand still ... and now it applied to e-commenrce too :)

    ♡ from © tanvii.com

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  11. sara starMay 10, 2011 at 2:42 PM

    It sounds totally accurate to me. And it reflects how I am as a person too.

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  12. The Closet ShopperMay 10, 2011 at 6:54 PM

    I don't know. My husband is much more internet-y than me. He's constantly on there. And he has like three or four social sites that he visits and has made internet friends. I didn't have any of that till I started my blog. I do a bit of shopping online though.

    Interesting post, my dear!

    PS) Booking a trip to NYC, so maybe I'll see you sooner than we thought!

    xo,
    Tracy

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  13. Emma at Daily Clothes FixMay 10, 2011 at 7:51 PM

    I'm not that surprised based on the number of women who network with me online (and I reckon that as most bloggers are women that probably skews the stats even further).

    Speaking for myself I probably spend 80-100 hours per week online, which is both terrifying and not that surprising considering that my job is the web. The rest is blogging. Two full-time online jobs. :-)

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  14. BonnieMay 10, 2011 at 8:09 PM

    I absolutely could not agree more. This doesn't surprise me at all.

    http://www.glamkittenslitterbox.com/
    Twitter: @GlamKitten88

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  15. LorenaMay 10, 2011 at 8:11 PM

    Makes all the sense in the world to me.
    I am constantly on line. I buy 50% of my shoes on line. I am on FB everyday mostly playing games. I am not on twitter. I have a blog.
    OMG, Ralph I need to get me a life !
    ;)

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  16. KariMay 10, 2011 at 8:37 PM

    I'm not surprised either. I think males use the Internet, but for different reasons than women.

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  17. UnknownMay 10, 2011 at 9:07 PM

    I'm not very tech savvy, especially compared to my computer science bf but I do love social media (twitter, blogging) but tend to get bored easily by Facebook. I think woman use the internet-like you said- to be social whereas it's more business oriented for men.

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  18. ShaylaMay 10, 2011 at 9:45 PM

    I think one big reason as to why women utilize the net more than men is because a lot of women these days are STILL stay at home mothers. Not only that but women love to be social and a many are interested in crafts. It is no surprise to me that Etsy and facebook are used more by women than men. I can't recall anyone in my circle on Etsy being male come to think of it.

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  19. silvergirlMay 10, 2011 at 10:35 PM

    my husband doesn't use internet as much as i do, but it would be a toss up whether son1 and son2 use it more than i do
    brett

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  20. AnonymousMay 11, 2011 at 9:59 AM

    Not too shocking at all. My husband gets hives from Facebook and I'm an addict. Twitter however makes my head spin. But all in all, I'm "connected" way more than he is. Thanks for sharing - learing is fun :)

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  21. AnonymousMay 31, 2011 at 8:10 PM

    I know I spend more time on the internet than my husband even though he works at an online retail company. I read dozens of blogs, shop online, post on message boards, and research services and activities in my area. He barely uses his Facebook account because he says he gets tired of staring at a screen all the time. Of course, that doesn't stop him from watching sports. ;)

    ReplyDelete

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