Same-Sex and Cross-Sex on Facebook and in Text Messages
Abstract
Studies on male and female written communication have previously been performed but all lack specific differences in conversations men and women have with the same and opposite genders. This study takes a close look at text samples from four individuals’ Facebook pages and text message conversations in order to bring these differences in written communication to light. The women’s conversations in this study did not differ in any substantial ways when they conversed with the men or other woman in this study. However, the males were more emotional when speaking to each other than with the females. Their topics with both genders in their conversations were very impersonal in contrast to the women’s sensitive communicative styles.
Introduction & Review of Literature
In the past, studies have been conducted and research has been obtained on the communication styles of men and women. It has been said that women and men have very different communicative ethics in that they prefer different styles of communications and communicate for various reasons. Many key points have been discussed, agreed upon, and disagreed upon involving the topic of gender differences in written communication. The main ideas, but mostly claims and results, surrounding this topic are that men are more comfortable communicating verbally, while women prefer written communication, and that men are viewed as impersonal and unemotional, only communicating in order to gain status and respect, and display their knowledge and dominance, while women are emotional, personal, and use communication to seek understanding. Men have been known to feel more comfortable communicating with others verbally rather than using mediums such as e-mails, text messaging, or online discussions. After researching communications styles in web-based classroom courses and face-to-face