The Future of Social Networking? Let's hear it for the ladies!

Pretty much everything you ever wanted to know about social networking (who uses it, why they use it and where the industry is headed) can be found in BusinessWeek's new special report on social networking. Perhaps the most interesting part of the report, is the article outlining social media's gender gap and how women are the driving force behind the increasing popularity of social networks. Quoting data from a Rapleaf study, the article states:

Among twentysomethings, women and men are just as likely to be members of social networks. Facebook, MySpace, and Flixster are extraordinarily popular. But we found that young women are much more active on these sites then young men. And men above 30—especially married men—aren't even joining social networks. With the notable exceptions of LinkedIn users and venture capitalists in the Bay Area "friending" everyone on Facebook, married men are not hanging out on social networks. Married women, however, are joining social networks in droves. In fact, women between ages 35 and 50 are the fastest-growing segment, especially on MySpace.

P.S. Don't forget to check out my favorite part of the report, the social media IQ quiz!