As this blog comes to an end, I want to look at one more topic that is relevant, to all of us, through the lens of gender inequality. This topic is social media.

On one platform or another, almost everyone has some sort of social media presence. Whether it be Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, or Pinterest our names and some part of ourselves are represented on the Internet. There is not only a difference between the number of men vs. women on each platform but there is also a difference between the way each gender is treated on social media.

Before we go into the differential treatment by gender, let’s look at the disparity between the percent of each gender on each platform. As evidenced by the infographic below, on the whole more women use social media than men. More women are on Facebook, tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter with men only dominating the Linked in category.

Image Courtesy of HuffingtonPost.com

Although more women have an online presence, they are less influential on social media. Of the top 100 influential Twitter users in Britain, only 17 were on the list and only one made the Top 10. Influence was measured with consideration to user’s audience size, engagement of the user with the audience, and ‘authority.’ Further, the response to women versus men voicing their opinion on social media influences each gender’s respective attitude towards posting. Women often receive backlash and negative comments for sharing their opinions which leads to relative female silence on social media.

This reluctance to post for women on social media platforms stems from the negative, sometimes abusive responses they get solely on the basis of their gender. To prove this point, Journalist and Designer Martin Belam did an experiment by running a spoof Twitter account. When the account was portrayed as a female user, it received more abusive and negative responses in comparison to when it was portrayed as a male user. Why do people feel that it is acceptable to attack women on social media?

Women deal with many forms of harassment on social media including pornography, email harassment, cyber-stalking, and flaming. The most common issue and form of harassment is flaming. Flaming is the use of a highly aggressive language pattern. Slut shaming is an example of flaming that is frequently seen on social media accounts.

Speaking of slut-shaming, there is a disparity between the perception of provocative pictures based on which gender is doing the posting. Women are criticized for posting these kinds of pictures and the comments will often be brutal. The pictures will sometimes get removed, either because of people reporting it or the cruelty of the comments. Meanwhile, men who post nude or provocative pictures get lots of support in the comments. When younger generations see this behavior on social media, they believe it is acceptable to treat women this way. It creates a never-ending cycle that goes from generation to generation. A cycle that needs to be broken.

According to Susan Herring, a researcher who studies gender differences in gender use, women are often ignored, trivialized or criticized by men who “have a tendency to forget that that there is an actual human being at the receiving end of one’s emotional outbursts.” While this statement may be true, it does not excuse the behavior of those men or anyone who is disrespectful on social media. This is something that needs to change. Women need to feel safe and accepted on social media because their opinions are valid, their pictures are beautiful, and their voices deserve to be heard.

To make change, we need action. We need to break the cycle, mentioned earlier, of younger generations treating thinking it is okay to treat women without respect on social media.

Things like #askmemore start the conversation but they make minimal meaningful impact. The #askmemore campaign was created by the Representation Project in 2014 in relation to Hollywood events. Its purpose was to call out reporters who often focus more on a woman’s appearance and ask them questions pertaining to fashion, babies, and make-up. On the other hand, men are asked about their work, the creative process, and the fellow nominees in their field.

Image Courtesy of SocietySocial.com

Once theses campaigns are over, the cause is forgotten. Social media has the ability to create change. Look at the #metoo movement. It has led to sweeping change for victims and perpetrators of sexual assault. That is AMAZING. However, something needs to happen that creates change within social media. What the “something” is, is the million-dollar question. I wish I could say there was a simple answer. Instead, I suggest advocating for yourself on social media and supporting other women on social media because small steps can make the biggest impact.