Women and men have different characteristic online styles … The styles are recognizably – even steoretypically – gendered. The male style is characterized by adversariality: put-downs, strong, often contentions assertions, lengthy and/or frequent postings, self-promotion, and sarcasm … The female-gendered style, in contrast, has two aspects which typically co-occur: supportiveness and attentuation … Other users regularly infer the gender of message posters on the basis of features of these styles … If our online communicative style reveals our gender, then gender differences, along with their social consequences, are likely to persist on computer-mediated networks. Entire lists can become gendered in their style as well. It is tactily expected that members of the non-dominant gender will adapt their posting style in the direction of the style of the dominant gender.
Predictor: Herring, Susan C.
Prediction, in context:In a June 1994 keynote speech at the American Library Association convention in Miami, Susan Herring, a researcher from the University of Texas at Austin, reflects on her studies of gender issues online: ”I started to hear stories about and witness men taking over and dominating discussions even of women-centered topics on women-centered [online] lists. In contrast, on the few occasions when I observed women attempting to gain an equal hearing on male-dominated lists, they were ignored, trivialized, or criticized by men for their tone or the inappropriateness of their topic. It wasn’t until I started looking at lists devoted to women’s issues, and to traditionally ‘feminized’ disciplines such as women’s studies, teaching English as a second language, and librarianship, that I found women holding forth in an amount consistent with their numerical presence on the list. I also found different interactional norms: little or no flaming, and cooperative, polite exchanges. As a result of these findings, I propose that women and men have different characteristic online styles. By characteristic styles, I do not mean that all or even the majority of users of each sex exhibit the behaviors of each style, but rather that the styles are recognizably – even steoretypically – gendered. The male style is characterized by adversariality: put-downs, strong, often contentions assertions, lengthy and/or frequent postings, self-promotion, and sarcasm … The female-gendered style, in contrast, has two aspects which typically co-occur: supportiveness and attentuation. ‘Supportiveness’ is characterized by expressions of appreciation, thanking, and community-building activities that make other participants feel accepted and welcome. ‘Attenuation’ includes hedging and expressing doubt, apologizing, asking questions, and contributing ideas in the form of suggestions … While these styles represent in some sense the extremes of gendered behavior, there is evidence that they have symbolic significance above and beyond their frequency of use. Thus other users regularly infer the gender of message posters on the basis of features of these styles … If our online communicative style reveals our gender, then gender differences, along with their social consequences, are likely to persist on computer-mediated networks. Entire lists can become gendered in their style as well. It is tactily expected that members of the non-dominant gender will adapt their posting style in the direction of the style of the dominant gender.”
Biography:Susan Herring, a professor of linguistics at the University of Texas at Arlington edited collections on the impact of the Internet including “Internet for Computer-Mediated Communication: Linguistic, Social, and Cross-Cultural Perspectives,” and “Computer-Mediated Discourse Analysis.” (Research Scientist/Illuminator.)
Date of prediction: June 27, 1994
Topic of prediction: Controversial Issues
Subtopic: Digital Divide
Name of publication: Keynote speech for American Library Association annual convention
Title, headline, chapter name: Gender Differences In Computer-Mediated Communication: Bringing Familiar Baggage To The New Frontier
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/gender/herring.txt
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Heiskell, Abbey K.