Telling words

A survey of more than 1,000 writers in the United Kingdom, carried out by Nottingham Trent University, has revealed that 55 per cent use the internet everyday. It also defines the average "wired" writer as a woman aged between 51 and 65 who lives in the suburbs.

The findings, collated by the trAce Online Writing Community at Nottingham Trent, indicate that 73 per cent of respondents use the web to carry out research and 16 per cent use it to publish their work. It also shows key differences between male and female writers' attitudes to the internet based on sociability.

Women are more likely to spend time meeting friends and colleagues online via instant messaging and chatrooms, but more men publish their writing online.

Details: http://trace.ntu.ac.uk/ survey.htm.