The Internet originally attracted mainly male users when it was new in the 1990s, but that era is as over as a band called New Kids on the Block (ask your parents). Young women now make the online world their own in a big way, new research shows.

Among students aged 12-17, significantly more girls have blogs, personal websites and social network pages that get tweaked often. A recent study by the Pew Internet Project in America titled "Teens and Social Media" found that blogging growth among students aged 12-17 is fueled almost entirely by girls, including some it calls a new breed of "super-communicators."

Thirty-five percent of girls and just 20 percent boys have blogs, shows the nationwide survey of 935 youths 12-17. Thirty-two percent of girls have personal websites, versus 22 percent of boys. And in the social networking world, 70 percent of U.S. girls aged 15-17 have built and regularly update a profile page on MySpace or Facebook -- compared with 57 percent of boys their age.

Blogs spread: 28 percent of online teens have created their own blog, up from 19 percent in 2004 - a jump almost completely driven by the popularity of blogging among girls.

Researcher says: "The Internet is a very expressive medium and you're looking at times in a girl's life when they are very socially expressive. The Internet, and social networking particularly, enables that need." -- John Horrigan, Pew Internet Project

Online risks: Half of U.S. teens have posted their pictures online, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Seventy-one percent of teens report getting messages online from a stranger.