Gender Differences in the use of Social Networking Sites
From Anita Borg Institute Wiki
Brittany McNeill, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Research Advisor: Dr. Lisa Kaczmarczyk
Contents |
Abstract
Undergraduates were surveyed about and asked to track social networking site usage to investigate potential gender differences in the use of social networking sites. Quantitative analysis of closed form questions yielded few statistical differences between the men and women in usage and perception of social networking sites; however, qualitative analysis of open ended questions yielded surprising results: similarities and differences concerning privacy, site activism, and types of information shared.
Introduction
Are there gender differences in the way that undergraduates use social networking sites? If there are differences, what are they? If there are no differences, what does this mean? These questions need answers because:
• Finding gender differences in social networking usage may lead to better understanding of what interests females about computing. This information may also lead to new insight about activities that can excite students about computing related careers. Finally, identifying gender differences in social networking site usage may assist in preventing attacks from on-line sexual predators.
• Finding few gender differences in social networking usage will provoke questions about gender-influenced anecdote, and public perception about what drives the development of these sites. Given the vast literature on social relationship differences between men and women (see Lippa (2005) for overview), it is important to work even harder to understand what influence social networking sites have on men and women users.
Background
It has been well established that there is a lack of women in computing and that the situation is not improving, in spite of intensive research (e.g., Sackrowitz & Parelius (1996); Schofield (1995); also see attached Bibliography). Therefore, we need to learn more about what will attract women to computing, and to focus our attention on influential popular technologies.
Perhaps the “hottest” area of technology is Web 2.0 and modern “relationship computing” (Barsky (2006)). Social networking sites should be particularly interesting to gender researchers because they have a social (people) aspect yet are primarily a computer (thing) activity. So far, little conclusive research has been done in on gender differences in the use of social networking sites (Alt et al. (2006)).
Approach
This exploratory study is a first attempt at looking for the existence of gender differences in the use of highly popular social networks. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (RHIT) is a unique school to do a study of technology use. RHIT is a four-year private engineering, science, and mathematics college; all of the students own a laptop and are technologically savvy by conventional standards.
A two part anonymous survey was created to obtain estimates of social networking site usage. The first part of the survey included general demographics, and questions about social network time use and preferences. The second part of the survey asked students to track actual time spent on social networks for one week.
106 questionnaires and tracking forms were passed out to undergraduates, across all four years of study. The first part of the survey was collected immediately after completion. The second part of the survey, the weekly reporting form, was returned via campus mail. Results from the surveys were analyzed with several parametric and non-parametric tests, to determine the statistical significance of potential gender differences. Free responses were analyzed qualitatively for patterns and common themes.
Results and Contributions: 100 copies of the first part of the survey were returned (men = 67, women = 33). Results of statistical analyses to closed-form questions show that men and women report few differences in use of blogs, having social networking site accounts, number of hours spent each week, and preferred activities while on-line. However, thematic qualitative analyses of open-form questions revealed some striking differences. First, although both men and women wrote that their strongest concern about social networking sites is privacy, women appeared much more prone to post extensive personal information on-line than were men. In fact, men frequently stated privacy concerns as the reason they posted “only basic information”. Second, the types of groups belonged to differed greatly between men and women: women overwhelmingly joined groups best described as “passive” and centered on college social life. Men overwhelmingly joined, and notably contributed to, political and other activist groups, and sports groups. Men reported almost exclusively (as compared to women) that they contribute material to other sites.
As of this writing, 41 weekly tracking forms have been returned, and they are still coming in. Therefore analysis of these interesting self-reports have not yet been compared to actual site usage data, and are not included in this report.
The results of this study highlight several important issues about gendered social network use and implications for future studies. First, it is important to include open-form questions in surveys, so that respondents can describe behaviors that might go unnoticed by fixed response categories. Second, the gendered differences in social network activities have deep implications for the development of future leaders of society. Social networking sites are pervasive among the latest generation of computer users, and therefore are likely to have societal influences beyond the individuals involved. If men are using the networks for outward focused activities that could influence institutions, whereas women use the networks primarily to communicate with friends, will disparities increase in economic opportunity and influence?
My poster I presented at GHC:
You can access the surveys and references I used for my research here: [MSWord2003 surveys and references]
I also presented to a small audience at my institution, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, the presentation is here: [MSPowerPoint presentation]
Information about Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology: Wikipedia article Rose-Hulman website
Acknowledgments: Dr. Diane Evans, Dr. Archana Chidanandan, Chris Riley
