Welcome, women
These nifty sites show why more women are frequenting the Internet
The male stranglehold on the Internet is loosening, and fast. The latest survey by the Georgia Institute of Technology shows that 32 percent of Web users are women, double just a year ago. While men tend to surf the Internet, stopping at whim to play a game or marvel at a slick graphic, women don't do that, says Judith Broadhurst, author of The Woman's Guide to Online Services (1995, McGraw-Hill, $19.95). Women see the Internet as a tool and usually go online with a goal in mind, like homing in on the latest Alzheimer's research.
Web developers--many of them women--are capitalizing on the surging interest by creating sites that reach out specifically to women, chock full of the kind of information they crave or pointers on how to find it. What follows is a sampling of such sites, each of which encompasses a broad range of interests. Sites that focus on a single traditional--often stereotypical--role, such as shopping, and sites that merely plug products were excluded.
CYBERGRRL WEBSTATION/WEBGRRLS
Aliza Sherman calls Cybergrrl Webstation--which she began in early 1995 as her personal home page--a woman's starting point on the Web. Her goal is to encourage women to explore the Web by pointing to what she considers "useful information," like the National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations site, and "things to read," like Buzz Online, a Los Angeles-based pop culture magazine. Sherman started a second site devoted to women who had their own home pages, dubbing it--and the women who created the pages--Webgrrls. A year ago, Webgrrls who live in New York City arranged to meet in person. Most of the 50 Webgrrls chapters worldwide now meet face to face monthly to network, mentor and learn about new media and technology. Inspired by the popular search engine Yahoo, Sherman also created a directory of women-related sites (http://www.femina.com) and plans to launch a new site this summer called WomenZone, focusing on consumer issues.
GENDER-RELATED ELECTRONIC FORUMS
http://www-unix.umbc.edu/~korenman/wmst/forums.html
Women who want to take part in group discussions online can do so on chat boards--some live--that more Web sites are incorporating. But most talking goes on via mailing lists, an organized form of E-mail, and newsgroups, or message centers. The latter are more public and can be disrupted, so mailing lists far outnumber newsgroups. But finding either type isn't easy, says Joan Korenman, director of women's studies at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. So Korenman has compiled a mother lode of more than 200 women-related mailing lists and newsgroups. Although Korenman calls her site "graphics-challenged"--it's text-only--it is remarkably varied. The mailing-list and newsgroup subjects range from menopause to women business owners.
HOMEARTS
Fans of Country Living, Good Housekeeping, Popular Mechanics and Redbook can gorge on articles--some lifted from the magazines, some written especially for the Hearst Corp.-sponsored site--on relationships, home, gardening, travel, fun, health and food. A search function smooths the way; the keyword "salmon" brought up 30-plus recipes. A handy "wine navigator" suggested a pinot noir or chardonnay to complement the salmon. Discussion forums offer tips on, say, secrets of growing rhododendrons. Do-it-yourselfers can ask other tinkerers--and experts--how to replace a shower pan or whether Formica can be painted (yes--replacement was another option). The site will undergo a reincarnation in the fall to incorporate audio and video features.
PARENT SOUP
This site for parents, also found on America Online, houses more than 90 message boards with topics spanning the spectrum of parental interests: adoption, dealing with disabilities, travel tips, baby names, pets and kids, after-school activities, affording a child. Parent Soup is being redesigned; a planned search key will help parents cull thousands of prior messages to find ones relating to a specific topic. The site is also abundant with reference material. The Parents' 500 Directory, for example, which gives the description, purpose, address and phone number of hundreds of organizations, deserves to be bookmarked as a favorite site.
WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL
The Web site of this seven-year-old association, which is dedicated to helping women advance into upper-level management and become financially independent and techno-literate, is designed like a university campus--emphasizing its focus on learning. Current articles deal, for instance, with international business etiquette, 401(k)'s, Windows upgrades and sexually transmitted diseases. Women who visit the site can chat with other site patrons in the "Networking Cafe" or pose questions to women like Lynne Gregg, product manager of AT&T Wireless Services. Job seekers can find openings at companies such as Cisco Systems and Microsoft.
WOMEN'S WIRE
The latest news, fashion tips, health advice, career guidance, entertainment trivia and money-wise counsel all are found at this site, which has a sister site on CompuServe. Standouts include "Getting There: The Path to Cool Careers," which features profiles of women in particular jobs. The current job pick is "webmaster"; one profile is of a woman who is the coordinator of electronic media for the Steamboat Springs Ski Resort in Colorado. "Where They Surf" asks a different cyber-celeb each month for a list of favorite Web sites; next in line is Netscape honcho Marc Andreesson. "We don't just cover women," says site founder Ellen Pack. "We cover things that are interesting to women." A new feature on the site: live chat.
WWWOMEN
This site is first and foremost a directory of more than 5,000 women's sites. Merely having them collected in one spot can speed up increasingly tedious Web searches, although the criteria for inclusion can be "a little bit fuzzy," admits WWWomen co-founder Sue Levin. Not every site Levin and her staff uncover goes into the directory. For example, even though shopping malls abound on the Web, Levin lists only five or 10 of the very best sites. But she doesn't stint on substantive topics like breast cancer. "We will add every site we can find," says Levin. Like most Web directories these days, the site has value-added features--in this case, chat boards. One of the most useful is the "help desk," where women can E-mail and ask for assistance in finding a particular resource on the Internet.
BY MARGARET MANNIX, AMY BERNSTEIN AND MARY KATHLEEN FLYNN
