A new national survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project throws some light on how technology is being used to build and activate civic and social groups.

I agree with Twitter co-founder Biz Stone that technology alone can’t be an agent of change…“it’s going to be people, it’s going to be humanity.”

That said, the Pew report found that the slice of humanity that is online is more likely to be part of a group than non-Internet users (80% compared to 56%). No big surprise there.

Dig deeper in the report and you’ll find these insights into the gender split is when it comes to what kind of groups men and women are self-selecting for online. A snapshot:

Groups where women were more involved than men:

• Religious or spiritual groups (43% women vs 37% men)
• Consumer groups (26% vs 21%)
• Support groups for people with illness or personal situation (21% vs 16%)
• Organizations for older adults like AARP (17% vs 13%)
• Partner groups like the PTA (16% vs 9%)
• Literary groups, ie book clubs (15% vs 7%) and
• Performance or arts groups (12% vs. 7%)

Men were more likely to belong to sports-related groups like fan groups for teams, recreation leagues for themselves or their children, and gaming communities.

The genders balanced out when it came to groups like political organizations; labor unions; environmental groups, ethnic or cultural groups; and charitable or volunteer groups like Habitat for Humanity.

One factoid I found interesting is that low-income adults (earning less than $30K) and African Americans are slightly more likely than others to cite “meeting meeting people who share my interests” as a major reason to participate in social and civic groups. Something to keep in mind if you’re reaching out to these groups.