Trend Report: Are "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" On Social Media Too?

This trend report is brought to you by Meagan Tan

So, this famous quote to show the differences between men and women has

always been used for various situations, especially when it comes to face-to-face

communication.

But since social media has become one of the most used platforms for communication

in this era, I cannot help but wonder, does this gender difference show up on social

media as well?

First, let’s take a look at the most obvious difference, which is the type of social media

platforms men and women prefer.

MEN VS WOMEN: IT’S APPARENT ALMOST IMMEDIATELY

Have you ever scrolled through your Instagram feed and noticed that the majority of

users are female? Or that Reddit users are predominantly male? I’ve always considered

the possibility that it could be attributed to not having followed a substantial amount

of either gender to make that generalisation. As it turns out, my perception is right on

point; about 58% of users on Instagram are female while the other 42% are male.

Females are generally predominant across most social media but that doesn’t mean

men are scarce on these platforms. You’d be surprised to know that they’ll actually be

catching up soon!

It’s also interesting to note how both genders’ usage of social media differs from

each other.

Photo Credit: Our community member, Charlie Ming Han

MEN VS WOMEN: HOW DO THEY USE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS DIFFERENTLY?

Recent studies have shown that female social media users use it as a platform to share their personal lives, and to reconnect with old relationships or forge new ones. Males, on the other hand, tend to use it as a tool to seek business opportunities by means of building

influence.

These findings bring us to the conclusion that women tend to be more expressive in terms of their willingness to share personal issues and that in contrast, men prefer to discuss more abstract topics such as politics, business and news.

This explains why females are predominant on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram which offer greater flexibility for them to be expressive - whether that

be with an “Outfit of the Day” picture or simply a Tweet about a random thought.

Photo Credit: Our Nuffnang Bloggerati, Kittie Yiyi

Here’s another difference: males are less hesitant to form new relationships with the opposite gender compared to females due to less time being spent on social media.

Examples of this would be being open to the idea of meeting a partner on social dating sites, connecting with other professionals on LinkedIn, sharing and discussing their thoughts on forums such as Reddit and sharing musical passions on SoundCloud.

As a result, content shared by the two genders differ greatly. Kittie’s picture is an example of the type of photograph a vast majority of females prefer to share to show self-expression.

What about males, though? Glance at your Instagram feed and you’d quickly notice that

males are most likely to share photos of them with other individuals, or photos containing their achievements or creative works.

Photo Credit: Joshua Foo Instagram

MEN VS WOMEN: ON A FINAL NOTE...

So here we are with the conclusion, peeps! The saying, “Men are from Mars, Women are from

Venus” deeply applies even on social media. We can see a clear distinction in the form of

communication of both genders on sharing content online.

That said, whether you are trying to grow your social media platforms, or if you are trying to

promote your brand or product, understanding this difference can give you a better idea as to

which platform you would like to utilise to reach the correct demographics.

With that, we would like to embrace the fact that men and women are made differently, because this way, our world (and social media world) get to be filled with a wider variety of content for us to enjoy.