Gender and Internet Research

Just as we thought it was getting quiet again, along comes the latest Pew Internet Survey to suggest that

* Women are catching up with men in overall web use. They differ from men in using online to deepen connections with people.

* Compared with women, online men are more likely to: check the weather, get news, get do-it-yourself information, get political information, get financial information, do job-related research.

* Compared with men, online women are more likely to: use email, get maps and directions, look for health and medical information, use web sites to get support for health or personal problems, get religious information.

* For many online activities, the growth rate for women’s participation is greater than the growth rate for men’s, including: using government web sites, getting religious information, getting news, researching products.

* 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.

* 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.

When you actually get into the Report, it becomes quite interesting how gender affects use of search engines:

As vehicles for finding information, search engines are extremely popular among both men and women. About 90% of men and women who go online use search engines, and about 40% use them on a typical day. Men and women generally use the same kinds of search strategies, using search engines most commonly, but also starting searches on familiar, proprietary websites or following recommended links.
Although men and women say equally that they find the information online that they are looking for, men are a lot more confident in themselves as searchers, and they are less overwhelmed by the glut of information that’s out there.
* Men and women both use search engines heavily. 90% of online men and 91% of online women use search engines; 43% of those men and 39% of those women use them on an average day. Women’s history with search engine use is more volatile than men’s. In June 2003, 88% of women used search engines; it dipped to 79% in June 2004, and rose back to 91% in September 2005. Men’s use has held steady at about 90%.
* Men and women are equally satisfied users of search engines, but men are more confident than women as searchers. Among searchers, 88% of men and 86% of women say they find the information they are looking for; 54% of men and 40% of women have self-confidence as searchers.
* Women feel the glut of online information more than men do. Although both men and women like having a lot of information available in their world, 24% of women feel its overload compared with 19% of men.

The rise in search engine use on an average day, from about 35% for men and 25% for women in June 2003 and June 2004, soared for both in September 2005, to 43% for men and 39% for women. This coincides with the recent popular excitement about major search engines, including the vastly expanding volume searchable content, the IPOs, and the widely reported competition among them.
Search engines are just one way to find information online. As alternatives, searchers return to familiar websites or follow recommended links. The Pew Internet Project looked more closely at searchers’ strategies for three specific kinds of informational searches: for health and medical issues, government issues, and religious issues.
Men and women use similar strategies in launching their searches. Most users who are looking for information about health or government issues will start with search engines or portals. For instance, when asked about their most recent searches for health information, 85% of men and 78% of women said they went first to search engines or to general portals that included search engines. Similarly, when asked about the last time they searched for government information or services, 48% of men and 51% of women started at engines or portals. Then, as a secondary strategy, 29% of men and 28% of women went to sites they had already used.