Analysis details digital lives in USA

— -- Women reign supreme on social networks, but men are more likely to tote tablets.

Those are just a pair of the findings in a new analysis of research from Nielsen and NM Incite that was released Thursday. Women make up 54% of visitors to social networks and blogs and outnumber men, 53% to 47%, among online video viewers, the report finds.

Men account for 53% of tablet owners. However, the sexes are in a 50-50 dead heat when it comes to smartphone ownership.

A look at the bigger picture suggests that Internet access is becoming ubiquitous. About 274 million Americans have access to the Internet in their homes, at work or outside the home at coffee shops, for example. That's more than double the 132.2 million who had Internet access in 2000.

"But the experience is completely different from what it was 10 years ago," says Radha Subramanyam, senior vice president of media analytics for Nielsen. "Today, there are all these social experiences and there is video everywhere and there are apps. It's not just on one screen, but on totally different screens."

Other findings:

•The Internet generation is living up to its billing. Those ages 18-34, dubbed "Generation C" by Nielsen because they are constantly connected, make up 23% of the U.S. population, but account for 39% of smartphone owners and 33% of tablet owners.

•Generation X slightly nudges out the younger Gen C netizens on social networks, blogs and online video. Those ages 35-49 make up 28% of social networks and blog visitors and online video watchers, while the 18-34 age group comes in next, making up 27%.

••Whites make up 61% of smartphone owners and 60% of tablet owners. Hispanics make up the next largest group of smartphone (17%) and tablet ownership (15%), followed by African-Americans and Asian-Americans.

African-Americans, who make up 12% of smartphone owners and 11% of tablet owners, "are among the few groups who actually use the phones for talking," Subramanyam says. "Their actual talk minutes are higher than other groups."

Hispanics and Asians, both growing population groups, are likely to access the Web on mobile devices rather than home computers, she says. "That is going to start to impact everything over the next few years."

"Digital omnivores consume content everywhere they go across every device whether it's their PC, tablet or smartphone," says comScore analyst Sarah Radwanick. "We will see a spotlight on these consumers during multimedia extravaganzas like the Summer Olympics and the presidential election where (they) need to stay plugged in to the latest news and events."

But the Federal Communications Commission, noting that about 100 million Americans don't have high-speed Internet service at home, is concerned about the possibility of a growing digital elite that could have dramatic consequences for society as a whole. "We can't afford to have a third of the country left out of the broadband economy," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski says. "Getting online is a necessity, not a convenience."