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With the exception of Digg, all the major social networking sites had more women than men. I wonder why? Why do you think so? Personally, I know I have been on social networking sites since 1992 via Usenet and IRC. Yes, you might not have heard of these two, but this is way before Google came to the picture, kiddos.

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2009/who-rules-the-social-web/

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’s 2009 point about women showing up more on many networks is still a useful starting observation, but the story is platform-specific and has evolved. Broad surveys show the overall gender gap narrowed after 2010, yet individual sites kept distinct skews: visual, relationship‑oriented sites tend to attract more women, while forum/discussion sites have historically leaned male. (pewresearch.org)

Academic work that tested motivations and continuance intentions finds a consistent pattern: women more often use social networks to maintain close ties and get social information, while men are more likely to use them for forming new ties or general information/entertainment. This aligns with the forum comments from (written vs spoken preferences) and (socializing and patience as drivers). (econbiz.de)

Platform affordances amplify these tendencies. For example, Pinterest remains strongly female‑dominated, while Reddit and similar discussion sites skew male — so content type and UX matter as much as gender. Marketers and community managers should treat each platform as a different audience, not assume a uniform gender split. (statista.com)

Safety, moderation, and harassment risk also shape who participates where: surveys report women experience and report greater emotional impact from certain types of online harassment, which influences where and how they post. That context helps explain why some spaces are less attractive to women despite high overall social‑media use. (pewresearch.org)

Practical takeaway (short):

  • Check platform stats before targeting: use platform analytics + Pew/industry reports for current splits.
  • Match creative to motivations: relational, visual content for networks with more women; informational/issue-driven formats for networks that skew male.
  • Test and measure: run small A/B tests, track engagement by gender and age, and monitor moderation/safety signals.

References above summarize peer‑reviewed and major survey findings; platform mixes change, so treat these as patterns to validate with up‑to‑date analytics.

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Member Avatar for MktgRob

With the exception of Digg, all the major social networking sites had more women than men. I wonder why? Why do you think so? Personally, I know I have been on social networking sites since 1992 via Usenet and IRC. Yes, you might not have heard of these two, but this is way before Google came to the picture, kiddos.

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2009/who-rules-the-social-web/

I think the basic reason goes back to something I noticed when I was younger. In the dark ages, before e-mail and social networks, when people would actually put pen to paper and write letters and the majority of the time I noticed that my mom and my aunts would write letters and postcards but my dad, uncles and brother preferred to pick up the phone or talk in person. My mom would even write out Christmas cards to my dad's side of the family.

I think what it comes down to is that women are for the most part more comfortable with expressing themselves with the written (or in this case typed) word and men prefer spoken communication. I am sure that if you looked just at youtube accounts the majority of the content on their is from men. It is recorded spoken word.
The other reason might be that men are just lazy and prefer the easiest way to communicate.

Member Avatar for Shade01

It may also have something to do with patience and the fact women (in general) enloying talking and communicating.

Member Avatar for InsightsDigital

Very good observation. It all depends on how mena nd women prefer to communicate and how they communicate - perhaps its a DNA thing or it is a socially taught behavior. Regardless, this is evident on how people communicate and share, both online and offline.

Member Avatar for MktgRob

What is funny is that if the major sports that have banned tweeting by players during games reversed their decisions you would probably see a huge spike in men using twitter. Sadly, we are predictable creatures.

Member Avatar for Shade01

It is probably a combination of both in general. In earlier times a mother show a daughter how to do something then guide her while she did it explaining why and how whereas boys were normally told how to do something, what to use and then left to get on with it. We certainly are predictable.

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