Gender differences in mediated communication: Women connect more than do men

Past research in gender differences in the overall Internet use has been contradictory. Some asserted men used it more than women, while others asserted there were no gender difference. Both camps concluded that men and women differed in their motivation and utilization of time spent online. The purpose of the present research was to take a contemporary look at these gender differences. Using an online survey, we asked participants about their experiences with multiple forms of mediated communication: social networking sites, e-mail, video calls, instant messaging, texting, and phone calls. Our results indicated that women, compared to men, are generally more frequent mediated communication users. Compared to men, women prefer and more frequently use text messaging, social media, and online video calls. These results suggest that the nature of mediated social interaction is changing.

[1]  Rosanna E. Guadagno,et al.  Make new friends or keep the old: Gender and personality differences in social networking use , 2012, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[2]  David Kirkpatrick,et al.  The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World , 2010 .

[3]  S. G. Mazman,et al.  Gender Differences in Using Social Networks. , 2011 .

[4]  Eszter Hargittai,et al.  Whose Space? Differences Among Users and Non-Users of Social Network Sites , 2007, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[5]  Mimi Recker,et al.  Results from the First World-Wide Web User Survey , 1994, Comput. Networks ISDN Syst..

[6]  Eric B. Weiser,et al.  The Functions of Internet Use and Their Social and Psychological Consequences , 2001, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[7]  Rosanna E. Guadagno,et al.  The homeless use Facebook?! Similarities of social network use between college students and homeless young adults , 2013, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[8]  Eric B. Weiser,et al.  Gender Differences in Internet Use Patterns and Internet Application Preferences: A Two-Sample Comparison , 2000, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[9]  Cliff Lampe,et al.  The Benefits of Facebook "Friends: " Social Capital and College Students' Use of Online Social Network Sites , 2007, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[10]  Adam N. Joinson,et al.  Looking at, looking up or keeping up with people?: motives and use of facebook , 2008, CHI.

[11]  R. Cialdini,et al.  Online persuasion: An examination of gender differences in computer-mediated interpersonal influence. , 2002 .

[12]  A. Eagly.  Sex differences in social behavior : a social-role interpretation , 1987 .

[13]  Rosanna E. Guadagno,et al.  Even in virtual environments women shop and men build: A social role perspective on Second Life , 2011, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[14]  E GuadagnoRosanna,et al.  Even in virtual environments women shop and men build , 2011 .

[15]  Lindsay T. Graham,et al.  A Review of Facebook Research in the Social Sciences , 2012, Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

[16]  Craig Ross,et al.  Personality and motivations associated with Facebook use , 2009, Comput. Hum. Behav..