Women Use Social Media More Than Men: Study

Rebtel, a mobile VoIP company, commissioned a study from research firm Harris Interactive on the social networking habits of men and women. The researchers, who looked at the communication habits of 2,361 adults aged 18 and over, found that women are significantly more likely to use online social networks, like Facebook or twitter, to communicate with friends, family, and co-workers. A whopping 68 percent of women use social media to stay in touch with friends, as opposed to 54 percent of men.

"Our findings show that men tend to lag behind women when it comes to communicating with others through social media, which debunks other recent studies that suggest that men are more savvy networkers between the sexes," Rebtel's CEO Andreas Bernstrom said in a statement.

When the participants were asked which method of communication they would use if they were only allowed one, 18 percent of women chose social media as opposed to 12 percent of men. The rest still preferred to communicate via call, text, email, and even face to face.

The data showed that men like talking on the phone and texting more than women, but the difference was small: 73 percent of women use the phone to stay in touch with friends whereas 75 percent of men do. Not surprisingly, considering how deeply integrated Facebook is becoming with our lives, one in five participants said they expected to increase their use of social media in the future. Men especially expected their social media use to increase in the coming years, probably partly because, compared with women, relatively few of them use it now.

He may have been talking about LinkedIn's June study which found men to be the "Savviest Networkers." However, that study only looked at professional connections on LinkedIn, and didn't take into account other social networking sites or non work related connections.

On the other hand, according to a study by the Social Technology Review, women have an average of 55% more wall posts than men, but the same amount of friends.

Take a look at Rebtel's visualization of how much more likely women are to use social networking than men.

Comments

[Brian Christopher]

11:20 AM on 09/27/2011

Interesting... I do not know any males that text at all, much less on a regular basis. But I do know tons of females whom do. I wonder if there are other factors involved such as region, rural or city, etc.

[gemini68]

10:12 AM on 09/27/2011

I would agree with this. As a woman I have noticed that more of my female friends and I communicate through Facebook and G-chat than my male friends.

[shreeraamshree]

10:02 AM on 09/27/2011

no no no...if u gonna say like this then give entire details how many number of ppl and what s their age and all tat!!! sum survey cant prove it!!!! :P

[Quai DOrsay]

08:37 AM on 09/27/2011

I disagree, I m not too sure what age range they are talking about. There are myriad of surveys out there that already proved that Women shop and text way way more than men (Age range: 14 - 40)
Here's one of them: http://www.marketingvox.com/marketing-data-roundup-women-text-shop-online-more-than-men-apple-tops-in-smartphone-satisfication-048914/

[minusjason]

07:29 AM on 09/27/2011

The headline I clicked said "Facebook is for women, texting is for men." I really don't think 75% vs. 73% means texting is for men, HuffPo.

[gemini68]

10:13 AM on 09/27/2011

I think the more valid data is the 68% of women who use social networking vs. 54% of men who use it.

[HellBank]

07:25 AM on 09/27/2011

Men just use facebook to get laid; we don't care what other men are doing in their lives.

[thelumynosity]

02:58 AM on 09/27/2011

Most of the people use social media as entertainment not a serious method of communication. Is used to keep up with that I do not a close relationship. For serious communication I text, more serious I call.

[thelumynosity]

02:52 AM on 09/27/2011

I totally disagree.the women that I know text more than men. Older women use the phone more than the younger ones which text more. Men text and use the phone less than women (in general communicate less).

[booksnmoreforyou]

02:18 AM on 09/27/2011

I use FB to coordinate activism. It's very useful.

[NonPrawf]

02:17 AM on 09/27/2011

Holy crap this is sooo me.

Gonna txt this link to my buds.

[loki]

01:39 AM on 09/27/2011

thats about a total BS study. I know many women who cant live without texting 24/7.

[HellBank]

07:27 AM on 09/27/2011

They just look like they're txting. Pay closer attention next time and you'll see they're checking comments on their facebook page.

[Quai DOrsay]

08:33 AM on 09/27/2011

Wrong , Wrong ... Women shop and text way more than men ... This study is totaly bogus. Men keep in touch through texting, women tell entire stories through texting ... http://www.marketingvox.com/marketing-data-roundup-women-text-shop-online-more-than-men-apple-tops-in-smartphone-satisfication-048914/

[broui]

11:46 PM on 09/26/2011

FB is a bore. I don't care that a friend or relative is going shopping or they're making deviled eggs today.

Texting is something my wife and I do occasionally - you picking up the kids? Sure. - that sort of thing.

Real human conversation with a phone or better yet, in person is far preferable.

[Out to Lunch]

05:03 AM on 09/27/2011

I love Facebook, but sometimes find it a bit tedious for the same reason as you. Generally, I use it for reading the local news, sports, etc... Many groups exist so that you can blog a myriad of topics with folks from around the world. No different than what is being done here only the software is much better in FB.

[scarletxoxoxo]

11:02 PM on 09/26/2011

What if you really don't do either?

[chaserblue]

01:25 AM on 09/27/2011

Then you are an intelligent and charming individual!!

[xaliasxlostx]

10:59 PM on 09/26/2011

Interesting. I'm a woman and I find social media full of unnecessary drama so I tend to stick with texting. Your phone's mostly always with you, you have everyone on your phone you want to, and no one you don't, and you tend to have less 'facebook stalkers' when you don't actually 'use' facebook. Haven't used facebook in about a year, never made a twitter, and this is someone who's relatively young at 18.

[Derk Pippin]

05:17 PM on 09/26/2011

So I guess that makes me bi-textual ...

[karen lyons kalmenson]

06:19 PM on 09/26/2011

or ambitextrous

[Niki Spencer]

08:00 PM on 09/26/2011

but only if it's contextual by both parties...