Not surprisingly, it turns out that gender also plays a part in determining trends in Internet behavior in China. This is probably true for most countries, but Internet corporations vying for a market share in the biggest Internet community on the globe, are keeping a close watch on China’s 220 million net users for signs of online trends. China’s enormous volume of net users continues to rise, as more and more people gain access to computers and studies into Internet behavior in China have indeed shown the emergence of clear trends.

Amongst the factors influencing Internet behavior in China, are socioeconomic status, geographic location and age. However, data published earlier this year by CNNIC, the China Internet Network Information Center, revealed that gender also affects surfer numbers and activity. According to the study, fewer women surf the web than men. This may be due, in part, to the higher proportion of men to women in the China’s population; however, it is possible that women are either less attracted to the Internet, or have less opportunity for access. What Internet companies would like to know is how women spend their web-time and at what rate new female ‘netizens’ join the online community; perhaps further research is needed to give a clear picture.

The age of female surfers is also a determining factor for Internet and New Media companies aiming to penetrate, or to expand in China. CNNIC studies show that the female to male ratio of netizens does in fact vary with age. The smallest difference can be seen in the younger generation, with almost 1:1 in the under 18 age bracket. In the 18-24 year old group, the ratio is 57.6% for men and 42.4% for women and in the 25-35 bracket there is a difference of approximately 19%. The ratio of the male to female netizen population in the over 50 group shows the highest difference of all - approximatley 60%. The CNNIC study showed that in China, the Internet is primarily used for entertainment, but if the proportion of men to women on the web changes in the future, it will be interesting to see if this changes too.