Social networks are part of that world we call virtual, but which is now an integrated part of our real life. The Internet and the world we access through New Technologies is just another field in which humans can interact and can solve old questions: who are they? how do i introduce myself? how do i approach others? who I can trust.
In this scenario, therefore, behaviors find a new guise adapted to the medium and traditional questions return. What are men and women looking for and how do they behave in this new stage called social networks?
Give statistics
Before going into social networks, let’s make a brief presentation on the latest ISTAT data on the relationship between New Technologies and Italians , to understand the scenario on which these differences are based.
The data date back to 2013 and tend to show an increase in the use of mobile devices and access to the Internet: a situation of gender digital divide remains , i.e. gender differences in the amount of use of the digital world.
59.7% of men report using a PC compared to 49% of women; if we switch to surfing the net, the gap increases: 60.2% for male use against 49.7% for female use.
The difference increases after 45 and peaks between 65 and 74 years of age. As for the use of social networks, it is one of the most popular activities, especially in the youth groups (15-34 years).
Women, health and social
Women actively participate in the life of the Net, even if still in a minority, yet there is an area in which they predominate. Specifically, women participate much more than men in all fields relating to health : seeking medical information, sharing it and their experiences and participating in groups that discuss diseases.
This participation deserves reflection: in fact, the ease with which certain news is disseminated often does not go hand in hand with the reliability of the same.
The case of mothers who fight against vaccines is emblematic: women who confront each other and provide news based on popular blogs or even of other mothers who speak without relying on scientific notions but rather on the experiences of individuals or on conspiracy theories.
The algorithms that discover personality on social networks
Women, men and “social” relationships
Beyond the topic, social networks remain an environment much appreciated by surfers : the heart of this bond is due precisely to the emphasis on relationships .
In fact, a research by Solis in the United States reveals that if women predominate in those environments characterized by exchange and sharing , that is, the main social networks. The use is varied and includes all age groups: it certainly ranges from mothers / grandmothers who talk about children, but also working women who use the furniture to work flexibly because they are away from home.
According to data from Google adSense (2011) , Italian women would be a little less present : above all, Twitter appears to be an unwelcome social network; for the researcher Elena Pacetti it could all be explained by a lower working flexibility and a lower presence of teleworking which decreases the number of women who use the Net for their work in our country.
The gender changes and the social networks and the type of relationships change: linkedIn , the working social network par excellence, is an environment in which men predominate ; the goal is always to create a network, but for completely different reasons: there is no exchange of experiences, but the search for a job, contacts or collaborations.
Youtube accounts are also predominantly male : men use the videos and then comment, but more to have their say than to confront each other.
