Women stay online longer than men, survey shows

MANILA, Philippines - As soon as they learn and find fun in it women become glued in front of their computers more so than their male counterparts.

A recent study by comScore saw more women now getting actively involved in social networking sites, including online game sites, and also spending a better part of their days online compared to men.

Although there are still more male Web users than female, comScore’s study find the latter growing in number and investing at least two more hours of their time every month to put their stamp on the Web. What’s more interesting is that the new Web arrivals tend to be women aged 50 and above.

According to comScore, females aged 55 and older spend an average of 214 minutes or 3.5 hours playing online games. Men in the same age bracket, on the other hand, play for about 92 minutes a month.

The favored online games by women are casual puzzle, card and board games. And like men, many women also visit gambling sites, the survey shows.

Data from comScore also revealed females exceeding males particularly in communications, devoting about one-third of their online time to social networking, instant messaging and e-mail messages compared with about one-quarter for men. Women aged 45 and older exhibited the greatest growth in social networking.

“Unlike in the earlier days of the Internet, women today exhibit many behaviors that are perhaps surprisingly similar to their male counterparts,” said Andrew Lipsman, senior director of industry analysis at comScore.

But it’s no surprise that women also outnumber men when it comes to online shopping and photo sharing.

Sex-themed sites continue to be predominantly visited by male Web users. However, the study also found out that over one-third of women online also view those sites.