By Lisa Burroughes, 28 August 1998 00:10
NEWS Women over 50 years of age are the fastest growing group of Net surfers, according to report by CommerceNet and Nielsen Media Research. The study found that the number of women over 50 in the US who are surfing the Internet has doubled in the last year to nearly five million users, by comparison to their male counterparts who grew only half that amount. But James Eibisch, senior analyst at Input, said: "It's a fast growing group because it has started from a much smaller base." However, he added: "It's inevitable that fewer groups of society will be left untouched by the technology because the Net is the underlying platform on which you do other things such as send email, go shopping and enter chatrooms. The content is becoming more focused on narrower demographic groups." The study also revealed that 34 per cent of the total US and Canadian population are using the Internet, up from 26 per cent last year, and that it is transcending the traditional stereotypes of single, white, middle class males. Asian adults are particularly active, with over 50 per cent of men and nearly 40 per cent of women online.
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