For the first time, women outnumber men online — 51.7% of all users. Increased opportunities for women is just the beginning of why this is interesting.

Women make up more of the voices online than men, penning more blogs, writing more emails and, of late, generating the preponderance of all Tweets. Surprised?

The Internet has spawned numerous ways for women to become her own bosses, dictate her schedules, and earn a living: eBay stores, mom blogs, Etsy sellers, to name a  few. These Internet-era micro-entrepreneurs also use the internet to support each others' businesses, exchange advice, and organize.

New research has reaffirmed longstanding notions that men and women use the Internet differently -- men are geared more toward searches for information while women invest greater time in dialogue and community-building.  Proportionately there are more women on major social networks than the Internet as a whole -- 55% of Facebook users and 58% of Myspace users are women.  Now, no matter how a woman is isolated — whether because she lives in a suburban or rural area, or because she is a stay-at-home mother, or because she is an abusive relationship — she can use the Internet to connect, get advice and support.


While the ways men and women use the Internet may differ, research also shows that the more someone uses the net, the more they develop skill normally associated with the opposite sex. This means women can sharpen their visual-spatial skills and men can enhance verbal skills. And as both male and female brains adapt, many believe there will be less measurable difference in male and female brain function.


Many of my friends are working mothers.  They tell me that the Internet helps them accomplish more in a day than ever before. Working mothers can take care of many household tasks on line, from shopping to finding caregivers who have been vetted, to arranging travel—all these online services can allow greater productivity.  Those in internet based businesses also have the advantage of greater work mobility, so that she can potentially tend to family obligations while being the CEO of her own company.
 
As a woman, I would like to thank Vint Cerf, the "Father of the Internet" for making the lives of  many women, around the world, so much better.