Ofcom, the UK"s digital regulator, has shared some interesting data that looks at the differences in online behavior based on gender. It also revealed that Reddit has overtaken Elon Musk"s X to become the fifth most-used social media platform.
The first difference that Ofcom highlights between men and women is their use of generative AI. It said that men were more likely than women to have used the technology in the past year at 50% compared to just 33%. It said that women were more likely to say they don"t know what gen AI is (29% vs 19%) and that they do not know how to use it (30% vs 23%).
One of the talking points around AI is ethical concerns. Ofcom found that women were more likely to be concerned about its risks (17% vs 11%) and its future impact on society (64% vs 55%). Amazon recently stated that AI will add trillions of dollars to global GDP so it"ll be important for organizations to ensure women get on board with AI too.
Another online segment where men interacted more than women was dating platforms and porn websites. 65% of men said they went to dating sites while just 35% of women admitted to doing so. Hinge was the only platform in the top 10 that had more female visitors. As for porn, 43% of men said they visited these sites in May 2024 compared to just 16% of women. Men spent around 1 hour and 44 minutes on these sites while women visited for an hour.
When it comes to online news websites, men and women were pretty equal at 49% and 51% respectively, but men tended to stay on for longer at 4 hours and 49 minutes compared to 3 hours and 28 minutes, over a month.
The script finally flips when it comes to health and fitness content. Health and well-being websites were visited by 88% of women and 80% of men. 57% of visitors to the NHS website were women while 43% were men. This isn"t too surprising because women tend to be much more proactive about their health and are more likely to visit the doctor than men.
This data is cited from Ofcom"s latest Online Nation report, which you can read in full here.
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