Silicon Insider: Tech Revolution -- Girls Rule!
May 4, 2006 — -- A shocking new gender divide has appeared in the computer age!
Oh, wait a minute, this time it's the boys who are falling behind. So, nevermind.
In the United Kingdom, The Guardian newspaper ran a story on Wednesday with the lede: "They mature more quickly, are said to be more responsible and do better at school. Now media-savvy girls are putting another one over the boys by leading the digital communications revolution."
Now, one should always be skeptical of any article in the Guardian (especially when it deals with the United States), but this one had the ring of truth. Anybody who drives by, or in my case, delivers kids to a high school on a regular basis knows that it is the girls who are the ones with cell phones glued to their ears, or typing into Blackberrys. And if, as I do, you have a 6-foot-tall, green-eyed, 15-year-old guitarist son, you also know that it is the girls who do most of the instant messaging and the MySpace maintenance.
A year ago, during a brief interview when my son Tad's computer was down and he had to use mine, I found my PC inundated with so many AIMs from teenaged girls, even well after midnight, that -- until I learned how to turn the system off -- I had trouble keeping my screen clear to get this column done.
The Guardian story went on to say that "after one of the most comprehensive studies of the effect on children of the explosion of media of the past 15 years, the regulator Ofcom said girls aged 12 to 15 are more likely than boys to have a mobile phone, use the internet, listen to the radio and read newspapers or magazines. Only when it comes to playing computer and console games do boys overtake girls."
What a surprise! One might have predicted a few years ago -- actually, I think I did in this column -- that the cycle of adoption for the Internet would replicate most other new technologies: i.e., boys, with their innate gizmology, in-your-face competition and love of the edgy and new, would be the first adopters of cell phones, instant messaging and the Web; then, when the technology was sufficiently civilized and complex, girls would take over, developing complex social networks and "civilizing" the technology. Meanwhile, the boys would either retreat into the darker fringe niches where solitary expertise and team problem-solving are rewarded -- or off in search of the next cool technology.
Of course, even suggesting such a thing is all-but taboo in our society. It can even cost you the presidency of Harvard. Nevertheless, once again, whatever advocates think ought to be true about boys and girls, this gender-driven market evolution once again has proven to be what is true. Boys go to where girls aren't, the girls pursue them there, and the boys move on --
Related Stories
ABC News Live