Gender differences in response to Facebook status updates from same and opposite gender friends

Abstract

We conducted two studies to examine gender differences in response to Facebook status updates from same and opposite gender friends. Study 1 surveyed 522 undergraduate students (216 females and 306 males), and compared males' and females' responses to two Facebook status updates: one from a same gender friend and one from an opposite gender friend. Females' public replies and private messages to a female friend showed higher levels of emotional support than males' public replies and private messages to a male friend. In contrast, there were no significant gender differences in response to an opposite gender friend. Furthermore, males showed higher levels of emotional support in private messages than in public replies to male friends. Study 2 recruited 484 participants (295 females and 189 males) using CrowdFlower. Approximately half received a Facebook status update from a same gender friend and the other half received it from an opposite gender friend. Females' public replies to a female friend showed significantly high levels of emotional support than males' public replies to a male friend and there was a similar but marginally significant gender difference for private replies to same gender friends. There was no gender difference in response to opposite gender friends. The practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

YouTube science channel video presenters and comments: female friendly or vestiges of sexism?

“…Females were more positive than males in comments relating to both males and females, aligning with previous research showing that in social media women express more positive sentiment (Thelwall, Wilkinson, & Uppal, 2010), are friendlier (Kapidzic & Herring, 2011) and give more emotional support (Joiner, Stewart, Beaney, Moon, Maras, Guiller, & Brosnan, 2014). Men may avoid giving emotional support in public, sending private messages instead (e.g., Joiner, Cuprinskaite, Dapkeviciute, Johnson, Gavin, & Brosnan, 2016), and so the public nature of YouTube could supress this behaviour in males.…”

Cost Per Participant Recruited From Rural and Remote Areas Into a Smoking Cessation Trial Via Online or Traditional Strategies: Observational Study

“…Nonetheless, it should be noted that the majority of men in this study were still recruited via online methods. Bearing in mind that most participants recruited via online strategies were recruited via Facebook, the finding that women had greater odds of being recruited via online strategies might be explained by evidence that women, unlike men, considered Facebook an integral part of their life to connect daily [52] and were more likely to seek support, either social (Facebook) or otherwise [53], but this was not the case for men and, particularly, men living in rural areas [54]. The participation of fewer men in smoking cessation research compared with women is not surprising.…”

Women candidates are unrewarded for “masculine” campaigning: Facebook campaigning during Israel's 2018 municipal elections

“…In the context of gender, several studies have indicated that women tend to support each other more on SNS than men (Joiner et al, 2016) and that they generally receive more feedback than men on SNS (Wang et al, 2013). Further, Patti et al's (2006) study of motives for SNS use revealed that women report using the networks significantly more than male, and that they use the Internet mostly for support, whereas men use it mostly for pragmatic reasons.…”

“…The authors explained the results based on studies in the wider social networks discourse context (e.g. Joiner et al, 2016), which identified that women participants give each other more support on SNS than men do. Accordingly, based on the promise of SNS to equalize the gender power-play during election campaigns, the present study examines the validity of the role incongruity theory during SNS campaigning.…”