Sorry, Boys, This Is Our Domain

There is an article in The New York Times today, February 21, 2008, by Stephanie Rosenbloom about how when it comes to Web content, cybergirls rule. "Most guys don't have the patience for this kind of thing," said Nicole Domingues, 13, or Miramar,

FL whose hobbies include designing free icons, layouts and "glitters" (shimmering animations) for the Web and MySpace pages of other teenagers.
Research shows that among the youngest Internet users, the primary creators of Web content (blogs, graphics, photographs, Web sites) are not misfits resembling the Lone Gunmen of "The X Files." On the contrary, the cyberpioneers of the moment are digitally effusive teenage girls. "If you did a poll I think you'd find that boys rarely have sites," Nicole said. "It's mostly girls." Indeed, a study published in December by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that among Web users ages 12 to 17, significantly more girls than boys blog (35 percent of girls compared with 20 percent of boys) and create or work on their own Web pages (32 percent of girls compared with 22 percent of boys). Girls also eclipse boys when it comes to building or working on Web sites for other people and creating profiles on social networking sites (70 percent of girls 15 to 17 have one, versus 57 percent of boys 15 to 17). Video posting was the sole area in which boys outdid girls.