Barbie Says, Math is Hard

JupiterResearch recently released a study about teens online.  Among it's many findings: teen girls go online younger than boys, and spend more time online.  This was reported in Direct magazine as surprising.

Really?  What is the assumption here that makes this news so surprising?  Today's teenage girls didn't get the memo that computers are supposed to be for boys.  No, they aren't interested in gaming to nearly the extent that boys are (Jupiter reports that boys spend 150% more time gaming).  But are there people who still think computers are only good for games and spreadsheets?  What are some of the top uses of the Internet?  Email, chat, IM, and shopping.  Have the people at Direct met a teenage girl?  Personally, if the Internet had been around when I was in my teens I would have been in HEAVEN. 

I will concede that Google's engineering offices are probably not heady with estrogen.  Yes, the interesting technology is still being built by boys and men, predominantly.  But the technology isn't what's interesting.  It's what happens to the that technology in the real world. 

The average teenage girl in the real world likes to talk to her friends, buy pretty things, and read about what Hollywood stars eat, drink, wear, and buy.  When I was 16 I spent the majority of my waking hours talking on the phone, cruising the mall, or reading magazines.  If I were 16 today (perish the thought), I would be doing all those things, plus IM'ing and emailing my friends, checking out Delias.com, and reading gURL.com and Alloy.  The more things change ...

So anyone who is surprised by this news has definitely missed a few meetings.  Yes, the engineers are still primarly men.  Yes, the CEOs are still mostly men.  But it is increasingly clear that these guys are working to benefit two big groups: teenage girls and the Moms who love them.

Frankly, I'm fine with you guys doing the heavy lifting.  Now where's my Gold card?