While household access seems equitable for both men and women, periodic use shows traces of a gender divide, especially for new media and ICTs

Chart 1

• Household access for devices such as televisions, landlines, mobile phones and radios was nearly equal for men and women in urban Nicaragua. However, there was a distinct gender disparity for access to computers and MP3/I-Pods, with men in the lead (Chart 1). Internet connections at home were still very rare for both men and women.

General Periodic Use

Chart 2

• Media that require literacy such as newspapers and the internet are used less by women (chart 2), even though women and men have similar literacy levels in Nicaragua. The same trend is seen when weekly sources of news are examined (chart 3).
• On the other hand, mobile phone use is six percentage points higher for women (chart 2). Women are also more likely to send and receive SMS text messages as a means to learn about current events or news.
• Women are also seven percentage points more likely to rely on their friends and family for news.

Chart 3

Internet Activities

• Since internet access at home and work is still rare for urban Nicaraguans, most men and women are likely to access the web at an internet café.

Chart 4

• Men show higher online activity than women, especially with blogging, social networking websites, playing games and downloading music (see chart 4 and 5).

Chart 5

• Chart outlines in detail, the types of blogs, men and women access in urban Nicaragua.

Chart 6

Mobile Phone Activities

• Eighty three percent of men and 85 percent women have household access to a mobile phone. In addition, 74 percent of men, and 80 percent women used it in the previous month. Chart 7 and 8 show their mobile phone activities, illustrating that even though women showed higher general use than men, that men are more likely to use many more functions on their phones. They are more likely to take pictures and share them, listen to music and play games on their mobile phones. In addition, when it comes to accessing other mediums such as the internet and radio, men seem to be better advantaged than women.

Chart 7

Chart 8

• Of respondents who did not have internet access on their mobile phones, close to half of both men and women said that their device was not advanced enough to be internet enabled. In addition, men were more likely than women (24 percent versus 15 percent) to cite expense as a restriction.

Traditional Media Use Highlights

• There are some gender differences in weekly television viewership highlighted in table 1 below: to read more about these channels, and their viewership, click here.

• FM frequency is the most popular for both genders. Convergence of mediums through activities such as listening to the radio on the internet, which is becoming more common in nations with greater connectivity, is yet to become very popular in urban Nicaragua. Stations on the MW/AM frequency are more popular with men and they also seem to have greater access to radio listening in their cars.