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Women aged between 25 and 49 are now spending more time on the internet than men as they become hooked on keeping in touch with friends online, according to figures published yesterday by the communications regulator Ofcom.

The figures are particularly pronounced in the 25 to 34 age group, in which women now account for 55 per cent of time spent online – demon-strating that the medium once thought of as dominated by solitary, glass-wearing male nerds is rapidly being feminised.

James Thickett, director of research with Ofcom, said: “Young women are finally finding content relevant to them on the internet. Social networking is what is driving a lot of usage; websites like Facebook and Bebo have a much higher female profile”.

Unknown two years ago, social networking sites – a combination of communication, information and gossip – have become particularly popular with women. Such sites are visted by more than six million Britons a month, and are still growing rapidly, according to figures complied by Ofcom in its annual audit of media consumption, the Communications Market Report.

Facebook and Bebo, as well as MySpace, which is owned by News Corporation, parent company of The Times, all have more young female users. Nearly a third of all Facebook users are women aged 18 to 34; only a quarter are men in the same range.

Adam Baum, media analyst with Gartner Group said: “I have no doubt that the reason behind the swing [towards women] is the rise of social networking sites. The time people spend on sites such as MySpace, Bebo and Facebook is by some magnitude higher than on ‘traditional’ websites and these new sites, which allow people to talk to each other, engage in friendships and share tastes, appeal to women.”

Internet usage shows marked gender divides. Forrester Research, the technology specialist, describes the net as “just another channel for women to do what they enjoy: shopping, talking, and caring”. Its data, based on research of young people across Europe, shows that 55 per cent of women aged 18 to 34 – or 4.13 million – use the medium regularly compared with 45 per cent – or 3.49 million – of men. Women are also likely to spend more time on networking sites when they are there.

Sharon Bailey, general manager for MSN, Microsoft’s online business, said that 78 per cent of the users on the company’s health and wellbeing site were women.

She said: “If learning how to use the technology was ever a barrier to women getting online, it isn’t today and, frankly, there are more interesting things for women to do on the web than in the past – especially when it comes to socialising.”

However, older men are still more prolific users of the internet than older women. Of those aged over 65, men account for 79 per cent of time online. Boys go online more than girls.

If the trends continue, analysts believe that they could eventually have an impact on television viewing. “The knock-on effect will be on traditional media,” Mr Baum said.

Female favourites

1 Google – 1.8 million unique vistors

2 MSN/Windows Live – 1.56 million

3 Yahoo! – 1 million

4 BBC – 882,000

5 Facebook – 855,000

6 eBay – 839,000

7 MySpace – 722,000

8 Microsoft – 702,000

9 YouTube – 661,000

10 Google Maps – 654,000

Source: Nielsen/NetRatings surveyed women aged 18-24

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