Women 'outpacing men' on social media

While "huge numbers" of consumers use social media, a greater amount of women than men are logging on, a new report has revealed.

Reputation management agency Rapleaf conducted research into the key demographics attracted by social media marketing and discovered that, while men are usually the first to adopt new technologies, women are the main users of social media.

It published its results through Business Week, predicting that this Web 2.0 gender gap will continue to grow.

"Male adoption of social media will grow as well; it just won't keep pace with the expanding engagement among female users," Rapleaf told the publication.

Earlier this year, digital marketing agency Oneupweb suggested that using social media offers firms an excellent way to build relationships with consumers and to boost positive brand awareness.

It noted that many of the best-selling products during 2007's Christmas season were brands which had made use of social media as part of their marketing mix.

Chief executive officer of Oneupweb Lisa Wehr urged marketers to make use of the platform to help promotions during the "rocky 2008 economy".