Gender and (A)nonymity in Computer‐Mediated Communication

Abstract

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) on the Internet has been claimed to possess a degree of anonymity that makes the gender of online communicators irrelevant or invisible; this purportedly allows women and men to participate and be recognized for their contributions equally, in contrast with patterns of male dominance traditionally observed in face-to-face communication. This chapter surveys research on gender and CMC, including textual, multimodal, and mobile communications, published between 1989 and 2013. The body of evidence taken as a whole runs counter to the claim that gender is invisible or irrelevant in CMC, or that CMC equalizes gender-based power and status differentials. In concluding, the notion of anonymity is critiqued, and the question of difference vs. disparity is addressed.

Linguistic accommodation in online communication: The role of language and gender

“…These conclusions are similar to those drawn by Herring and Stoerger (2014) in their study of gender and CMC.…”

Outnumbered but Well-Spoken

“…When online forums first became popular, there was hope that they would increase gender equality by allowing authors to choose anonymity and thus overcome social stereotypes or use a purely textual medium which might avoid many of the stereotypes which bias face-to-face communication [28,46,39,70,29]. Unfortunately, this ideal has not been achieved for several reasons.…”

“…Unfortunately, this ideal has not been achieved for several reasons. First, women initially had lesser access to the internet [29]. But even in situations where women have achieved equal access, gender equality has sometimes remained elusive.…”

“…But even in situations where women have achieved equal access, gender equality has sometimes remained elusive. Women are often driven away from forums by aggressive tactics or harassment [29,46,42]. Even when they are not, gender norms often persist online: women tend to be more polite, to assert opinions less strongly, and to "like" products which are consistent with gender stereotypes [27,29].…”

Az iskolában elsajátított írott nyelvi norma presztízse az internetes kommunikációban

“…Herring (1994) szerint a női beszédmódnak együttműködő, udvarias, nem sértegető ('no flaming'), illetve visszahúzódóbb nyelvi jellemzői léteznek. A férfiak ezzel szemben gyakrabban posztolnak, hangnemük pedig szarkazmussal teli; olykor erős, szinte követelő (Herring, 1994). E megállapítást saját kutatásaim is megerősítik, hiszen a női többségűnek tekinthető "Maris" alkorpuszban kevesebb volt az általam adott definíció szerinti normasértés, másként fogalmazva nagyobb volt az ideális kommentárok száma, mint a férfi hozzászólók által preferáltabb "Szefistudio" alkorpuszban.…”