The Pew Internet & American Life Project has released a report that examines the differences and similarities between how men and women in the U.S. use the Internet. While men tend use the Internet more intensively than women – and are more confident and aggressive in their use of search engines – their female counterparts are more likely to go online to communicate and interact with others more than men. According to the report, men and women are about equal when it comes to using the Internet to make purchases and conduct online banking transactions, but men are more likely than women to participate in auctions, pay bills, and trade stocks and bonds online.
The complete report, along with a myriad of other demographic reports on Americans’ use of the Internet, can be found on the Pew web site. It also coincides with another recent report from Forrester Research, which points to a closing of the gap between consumption of online media but echoes many of the same findings in the Pew report.