Online Gender Gap?
(On the map of Oprah pop culture references, it was a little past "Chicken Soup for the Soul" and a bit before "He's Just Not That Into You.")
Could it be that the Mars/Venus thing exists in cyberspace as well as outer space?
The New York Times asked the question yesterday:
Are more men engaged in politics online than women, and if so, why? These aren't just idle questions…So ... are women less active in political blogs? And if so, is it because – as the writer suggested – "Women are more comfortable when they can share mutual interests?" (Unnecessarily adding "mommy blogs are popular.")We know that women slightly outnumber men online. But at least anecdotally, it seems as if more men are on the political blogs, writing specifically about politics, reading about politics and putting in their two cents in the comments sections. Did you notice how many more men compared to women submitted videos for the Democratic YouTube debate in July? The pool of videos for the upcoming Republican YouTube debate is similarly stocked with more men.
Are blogs – and their smashmouth, confrontational style – more suited to the sports talk radio male mind? If so, is it because women sidestep the "so's your mom" back-and-forths that many online discussions devolve into?
Or is that just rolling out the old tired stereotypes?