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The difference in online pursuits

Women have caught up with men — online. But the purpose off logging in remains different, says GEETA PADMANABHAN

CHAT OR GAMES Their needs are not the same

This is one place where the gender gap is getting so narrow that it is in danger of disappearing altogether. The Internet trap is getting gender-neutral. Women have caught up with men online. Well, almost. If the connection has to be shared, women are as likely to demand equal time, even sneak in a couple more hours. With just this difference: "Men like the Internet for the experiences it offers, while women like it for the human connections it promotes." Men engage in intense Internet activities. They are also the first off the block to try out new technologies.

A dozen keyboard addicts about to enter college admitted as much. The boys download music, movies and animation. And play games with faceless opponents. "It's just 100 bucks if you played between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.!" Game over, they move into ORKUT or Hi5 looking for friends. "We live in Yahoo-ed paradise," said a group of ex-AMM girls. "We are constantly on e-mail. Our other major activity is chatting."

"I'm busy in an illegal activity," announced Harsha Koda, the guy side of the graphic designing couple. "I'm looking for the Da Vinci Code. Browsing? I do that 18 hours a day. My life depends on it. I eat at the computer." Wife Prabha grabs the mouse when in doubt. About anything. "It could be medicine, place or a recipe. Fact or fiction, there are 10,000 stories on each. You have to make your judgment."

Anjali Arora, an AAI executive, explores the Net for "n" number of things. "I have 24-hour connectivity, and stay connected all weekend. I go for general awareness. It could be a handy household tip or the `how' of a feature application. I'm into spiritual stuff like meditation and insightful stories and, of course, info related to civil aviation. I download by the tonne and read at least one article each on all topics I like." As one who's visually impaired she has a complaint. "I wish current stuff like discount sales are posted before they appear in print. I miss out on good offers during Diwali and Christmas. By the way, do you know a site that tells you of colour combinations?"

Artist-architect Kavitha's favourite websites carry watercolours. "I hit an average of an hour a day. My teenage son goes for music, project material and games. The younger daughter's games are the gentle Disney types. You know schools now ask kids to plough the Internet for projects?" Husband Deviprasad does the office correspondence and the latest architecture software. Both check out new terms in architecture. Together? Rarely.

"Mostly health and doggie info," said Brinda Mohan, patent lawyer. She needs state-of-the-art copyright news and that's about three to four hours of mouse-clicking. "When I'm bored I go in for horoscopes, movies and a chat with friends. No, I use my own identity, I'm not that wicked. I spend an hour with my son in London. My juniors are into cards and computer games in a big way. How can you play cards with yourself all day?"

Off work, techie Mahesh is in the virtual world for three-six hours a day. What for? Well, techie stuff, mostly.

Architect wife Suman checks e-mail, rediff.com for Indian news and listens to National Public Radio online (npr.com). I access the Web for architecture related products." Moushumi, a young content developer with IBM, surfs for new ideas and concepts. Books are an obsession and "bookstores don't provide author info. I'm a regular guest at home pages of authors." Her brother has the World Cup football schedule on the desktop. "He's into sports, software and music. How much time each gets depends on who gets there first."

"Women have a large circle of friends and chat constantly," said Prabha. "Girls sport new IDs and are quite cunning in chatrooms. Men lie about their looks. Punch in `Are you handsome?' The answer is always yes." Anjali thinks men are obsessed with themselves. "Men enter askmen.com to find out what men are doing. They think it's macho to project a `career and women' image."

So let's zoom in to track-changes in online collaboration. For men, Internet is "function, for women it's family". Women write to friends about a variety of topics, forward jokes and stories. They look for health and religious data, travel info, solutions to personal problems. Men check out weather, do-it-yourself guides, sports scores, political, financial and job-related information. They download software, rate a product/person/service through online validation systems, use a webcam and take a class.

* * *

Fact file

According to the Pew/Internet study:

* Older women trail dramatically behind older men in Internet use.

* Women use e-mail for nurturing relationships. Men communicate with organisations.

* More men than women perform online transactions.

* Men are more likely to join fan clubs, download music and videos, remix files and listen to radio.

* Men are more interested than women in technology, and they are also more tech

savvy.

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