I thought this week’s readings were very interesting, and they caused me to think quite a bit about my own online communication habits. Baym’s notes about how women and men communicate differently were very eye-opening. She writes that people don’t use communication as a tool to liberate themselves from gender stereotypes- instead, they “perform” gender through their chosen words (66). Men are more about information, and women are more about relationships. At the end of the day, men are more likely to turn their phones off, possibly because they view the phone as a work tool rather than a way to keep in contact with loved ones. Overall, women seem to talk more online- their instant messaging goodbyes are three times as long as men’s, and they often write about the underlying messages in life situations, rather than sticking to what actually happened (67). I thought it was very interesting that women’s conversations seem to work against their fight to break stereotypes about talking too much and being too emotional.
I also read about how emoticons allow people to show emotions in their online communication. While emails can sometimes be misunderstood, with jokes coming across as serious or offensive matters, using a smiley face can help ensure the reader that messages are lighthearted. Baym writes that using creative and personal ways to communicate online “show others that we are real, available, and that we like them” (62). For people who are shy or socially uncomfortable, the internet gives them an opportunity to “reinvent” themselves and have a charismatic personality online.
In Gerrand’s article, I thought it was interesting how flawed the Global Reach study seemed. Although so many people are equally fluent in both their native language and English (because English truly is becoming the global language, so people are raising their children with it), Global Reach automatically assumes that people will use the internet in their native language. Since so many languages aren’t even supported by personal computers, and many foreign news sites, etc are published in English, this study doesn’t seem to “take a step back” and look at all the options. I have never personally dealt with other languages on the internet, so I can’t predict how important these types of issues are or will be in the future. However, as Western technology continues to spread over the globe, I can only imagine that English will become more and more dominant in all cultures.
Today, there is nothing a man can do that a women cannot. I really do not understand why we still talk about those stereyotpes about wemen and men. It is not true that all women love to talk to much because I know a lot of men who are worse than women. They talk too much and they never turnoff their cell phone before bed time. In fact, the best salespersons are men because they have the more patience to talk for hours to convince their customers. After all, its not the matter of gender, but how educated you are and where you came from, and most importantely how to control your emotions.
As an international student who lived in different parts in the world I’ve noticed that people who lives in the US can control their emotions better than the other countries and that’s because the poverty is less here and we have all the sources for good life, which led to less competition between people, and more control in their emotions.
I have to agree with the comment above. I took exception to the discussion of gender stereotypes. Maybe I need to take a closer look at the research, but it seems like a very broad conclusion that women use their phones as a tool to manage relationships while men use them to manage work. Don’t most people keep their phones on at night? I do. I also don’t necessarily agree that women talk more online then men do. I think it has more to do with the type of technology adapter you are. Gender roles may play into it a little bit, but there many other factors as well (socioeconomics, education, career, hobbies, peer relationships, etc.)
While I do agree that the gender stereotypes seemed to paint behaviors with a broad brush, I can’t say that what I witness and how I use CMC differ from the author’s description. I do utilize CMC and SMTs to manage my relationships and I am able to manage a much larger pool of connections because of the “low cost” of doing so through these technologies. My husband uses the technology for the same end, but not on the same scale, which I witness from others within my close circle. I may use it to manage a hundred or more contacts, while he uses it to manage only 20 to 30. As Dr.Markman likes to point out, I am a statistical outlier, but I don’t know that I am in this case.
Truthfully, it is not something that I really thought about before, but I liked that I saw the opinions of both sides from you guys. I agree with rsasali and Tim with stereotypes, but I cannot dismiss Meagan because I see where she is coming from. That was really interesting.
Well it’s important to realize that these issues, particularly with respect to gender and communication are very complicated. So stereotypes are often drawn from observations, and then they get exaggerated. However, there are also patterns that do emerge when you look at lots and lots of people over time. So when research finds that Women do X more than men, or vice versa, these are general *trends* that show up in the data – at an individual level there is still variation.
Second – just because there is a trend in communication style doesn’t mean it’s an inherent biological difference – often these patterns come from socialization. And we can definitely establish that men and women get rewarded in our society by different behaviors, and that we see different kind of modeling done in our media (how many cleaning product ads feature men?).
For example, I read a study once where they tested the effect of gender on student evaluations. They had two professors of the same age and same race follow a script and practice to make sure they were saying and doing the same things in the classroom, and even videotaped it to make sure. However the student evaluations showed significant differences between the performance of the male and female professors, in that the men were rated higher for the EXACT SAME BEHAVIORS that the women were rated lower on. And interestingly, female professors were rated even more harshly by female students than were male professors. So clearly students had different perceptions of what was “good” behavior for a male professor and what was “good” for a female professor. These perceptions were no doubt shaped by the gender stereotypes they had unconsciously absorbed from their culture.
I have to agree that men and women communicate differently, even without the internet causing confusion sometimes. However, I never have noticed that women talk on the internet more than we do. Of course, that could be because I do not blog all that often, which probably proves your point. I found this and the Non-English speaking factors to be interesting as well. It would probably be good for other people to learn secondary languages just to be safe. In our ever-changing and culturally-diversified society, I believe that would be a wise move.
I agree with Megan, as well. As time goes on, it might appear that – although it is difficult for any stereotype to accurately describe anything – that a more accurate statement might be that men and women employ CMC for the same purposes in varying situations, but often at different degrees. For example, my girlfriend and I embody the stereotypes, but reverse. She sends and receives text messages as a practical way to contact with her clients and loved ones, while occasionally using text as means of keeping in touch, if you will. However, while I use text as a practical tool, I probably use it more often to interact with friends and family.