Study: Facebook Posts Reinforce Gender Stereotypes
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Gender stereotypes appear to hold up, at least on Facebook.
A new socio-linguistic study conducted by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Cambridge University reveals that women tend to use more "emotion words" and first-person singulars while men use more swear words and "object references" such as "x-box" on the social media site.
An infographic created by the researchers shows a cluster of popular words that show up on Facebook users' posts depending on their gender. Sadly, 'shopping,' excited' and 'yay' are extremely prevalent on women's Facebook pages, while 'himself,' 'x-box' and, well, a four letter word that begins with 'f' are frequently used by guys.
Furthermore, men seemed to use the possessive "my" more often when referring to their partner, as in "my girlfriend" or "my wife." Women, on the other hand, tended to use just "boyfriend" or "husband."
The research, which analyzed 700 million words, phrases and topics from the Facebook messages of 75,000 volunteers, is reportedly the largest ever conducted of language and personality.
To read the study, click here.
