Women Now Outnumber Men in U.S. Internet Population

Press Release - May 2, 2007

Contrary to the common perception of the internet as a male-dominated medium, a new study has found that more women than men are now online in the United States.

eMarketer estimates that 97.2 million American females, aged 3 and older, will use the web this year, representing 51.7% of the U.S. internet population. This number will grow to 109.7 million, or 51.9%, by 2011, the research firm predicts.

“For girls who have grown up with technology, there is no significant gender gap in internet usage,” commented senior eMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson. “The rise of activities that are particularly appealing to young females, such as social networking, will result in even greater usage.”

Certain Web 2.0 applications such as online video, however, haven’t fully caught on with the female internet population, with around 66% of women (versus 78% of men) having used a web-based video site like YouTube.