More significantly, according to the study's authors, women are more likely to feel strongly that email has helped strengthen their relationships with family members and friends. The survey, which was conducted in March and involved interviews with 3,533 Americans, suggested that, contrary to earlier studies the use of the Internet connects people to each other, rather than isolating them. The study also suggest that the Internet is now an important part of our lives, rather than a curiosity. There is a lot of concern out there that people are hunkering down with their computers in sequestered rooms with no natural light and frittering their lives away, when our research shows it's just the opposite. The connective aspect of the Internet rings through loud and clear.
People love the way it enhances their communication and broadens their world.
The study found that the nine million women who have gone online in the past six months have a different profile from those longtime users, who tend to be better educated, and better paid. About 47 percent of the women who are newcomers have no education beyond high school, and 54 percent are between the ages of 30 and 50. The polling effort is the first of several to be conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, which will use the data to try to understand better the ways in which the Internet is changing our lives, and our political systems. This initial study, however, focused less on politics than on family, and specifically, the way women have used the Internet to connect with family and friends.