“A report released last week by the Pew Internet & American Life Project indicates that men pursue many Internet activities more intensively than women and that men are still "first out of the blocks" in trying the latest technologies.

Other experts said that there are different "motivations" that drive men and women online.

"It may be the motivation behind the use," Nancy P. Hemenway, executive director of the International Council on Infertility Information Dissemination Inc., based in suburban Washington, told The Web.

Commercial researchers like James Chung, president of Boston-based Reach Advisors, said that companies study these gender differences to develop more precise marketing programs online. The differences may be even more pronounced by generation. "We're getting close to releasing information from a study including gender differences in Generation X Internet usage," Chung said.

The Pew study, "How Women and Men Use the Internet," may be the most comprehensive work on this topic to date, however. The report, developed by Deborah Fallows, indicates that women are "catching up" in overall use of the Internet but are "framing their online experience" with a greater emphasis on deepening connections with people."


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