Women and the Internet

I was interested to read this post by Loren Rossen on women and the internet. The low ratio of women is not just a bibliosphere phenomenon but a more widespread experience. I am, however, delighted to see that younger women are into the internet.

The percentage of women using the internet still lags slightly behind the percentage of men. Women under 30 and black women outpace their male peers. However, older women trail dramatically behind older men.

I definitely fall into the 'older woman' category since I am well over 30. Other posts on the internet show that there are fewer women lawyers blogging. In the writing systems realm, there is very low participation by women. However, in fonts and technology, which represents the interests of those closer to 30, there is a high participation by women.

I don't have any insights into this phenomenon. One would have to ask a non-blogging woman. The only answer I have gotten so far is "Who has time to blog?" However, I do know women who journal, but they keep it private.

For the record, my interest in blogging came out of my interest in writing systems. My natural dislike for technology was less than my passion for systems of writing and communication. I went from learning how to keyboard Tamil, my first technology challenge, to using multiple keyboards, to participating in an online forum on writing systems to blogging about writing systems. It was a natural sequence.