Worldwide web... it's a woman's world
Among its results, the report found that social networking sites reach a higher percentage of women than men globally, with 75.8% of all women online visiting a social networking site in May 2010 versus 69.7% of men.
"Understanding gender-specific differences in Web usage is valuable to any digital stakeholder looking to successfully reach and engage both women and men in the online environment," said Linda Boland Abraham, comScore chief marketing officer and executive vice president for global development.
"We have seen that women across the globe share some similar usage patterns online, such as strong engagement with social networking sites, but it's also important to understand gender differences on a regional, country and local level, where cultural differences are continually shaping online usage and content consumption."
Women spend 30% more time on social networking sites than men
Globally, women demonstrate higher levels of engagement with social networking sites than men. Although women account for 47.9% of total unique visitors to the social networking category, they consume 57% of pages and account for nearly 57% of total minutes spent on these sites. Women spend significantly more time on social networking sites than men, with women averaging 5.5 hours per month compared to men's 4 hours, demonstrating the strong engagement that women across the globe share with social sites.
| Worldwide Social Networking Category Usage and Engagement by Females and Males May 2010 Total Worldwide Audience, Age 15+ - Home & Work Locations* Source: comScore Media Metrix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Networking | |||||
| % Reach | % Composition Unique Visitors | % Composition Pages | % Composition Minutes | Average Hours per Visitor | |
| Total Audience | 72.5% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 4.7 |
| All Females | 75.8% | 47.9% | 57.0% | 56.6% | 5.5 |
| All Males | 69.7% | 52.1% | 43.0% | 43.4% | 3.9 |
*Excludes visitation from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
Latin America and North America display strongest social networking reach among women
Across each global region, Social Networking reached a higher percentage of women online than men. Social Networking's reach among women is highest in Latin America where it reached 94.1% of females online, and in North America where it reached 91.0% of females. Europe saw 85.6% of its female online population visit a social networking site in May 2010, while in Asia Pacific, where parts of the region still face low broadband penetration and site restrictions, reported a 54.9% reach.
| Social Networking Category Reach by Worldwide Region for Females and Males May 2010 Total Audience, Age 15+ - Home & Work Locations* Source: comScore Media Metrix | ||
|---|---|---|
| Social Networking % Reach by Region | ||
| Females | Males | |
| Worldwide | 75.8% | 69.7% |
| Latin America | 94.1% | 91.9% |
| North America | 91.0% | 87.5% |
| Europe | 85.6% | 80.6% |
| Asia Pacific | 54.9% | 50.7% |
*Excludes visitation from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
Additional findings from the report include:
- Although men are in the majority across the global Internet, women spend about 8% more time online, averaging 25 hours per month on the Web.
- Globally, women spend 20% more time on Retail sites overall than men. Among the various retail sub-categories, Comparison Shopping and Apparel sites reached the highest percentage of women at 24.8% and 18.7%, respectively, in May 2010.
- In the US, women are more avid online buyers than men, with 12.5% of female Internet users making an online purchase in February 2010, compared to 9.3% of men.
- Health sites show some of the largest overall differences in reach between female and male, with a nearly 6-point gap between global women and men.
- In most countries women spend far less time watching online video than men, but women spend a much higher share of their time watching videos on YouTube than men.
- In both the US and Europe, smartphone usage is dominated by men with both markets experiencing close to a 60/40 split in smartphone adoption between the genders.
Download Women on the Web: How Women are Shaping the Internet.