U.S. study: How men and women use Internet

Women are now as likely to use the &to=http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/90/360/16068_internet.html' target=_blank>Internet as men _ about two-thirds of both genders _ yet a new study shows that gaps remain in what each sex does online.

American men who go online are more likely than women to check the weather, the news, sports, political and financial information, the Pew Internet and American Life Project reported Wednesday. They are also more likely to use the Internet to download music and software and to take a class.

Online women, meanwhile, are bigger users of e-mail, and they are also more likely to go online for religious information and support for health or personal problems.

"For men, it's just, `Give me the facts," said Deborah Fallows, who wrote the report based on six years of Pew surveys. "For women, it's `Let's talk about this. Are you worried about this problem?' It's keeping in touch and connecting with people in a richer way."

About two-thirds of the 6,403 adults surveyed by Pew during 2005 said they use the Internet. By gender, it was 68 percent of the male respondents, and 66 percent of the female participants _ a statistically insignificant difference given the study's margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

In 2002, by contrast, the gap was slightly larger: 61 percent vs. 57 percent.