Gender differences in blogging

The Gender Gap in Blogging

The internet has drastically transformed the society we live in, and new technologies arise on a daily basis, all with the goal of making life easier. Blogging is a prevalent term in today’s electronic world, and many people, both men and women, have made a living from it. Initially, it acted as a web log where people could post about their everyday activities, but since its inception, marketers have discovered that they can use this platform to pitch their products. Blogs are popular due to their frequent updates and reader involvement platforms. Both men and women can successfully blog; it all depends on one’s originality and intelligence. However, for many years now, there has been a significant gender difference in the industry of blogging. Women bloggers do exist, but for many years now, their potential has not been fully realized. When a comparison is made between female and male bloggers, there is a difference regarding motive, technical ability, and blogging practices. This topic is important because there is need to get rid of any form of fear or prejudice that women have towards blogging so that they can fully utilize their abilities when it comes to blogging.

Unequal Recognition in the Blogging Industry

Several questions usually come up when we talk about equality between men and women and when we come to blogging, the issue still is a concern. The industry may look equal on the surface with well-known successful women bloggers such as Laura Ries who blogs at Ries’ Pieces and Grace Bonney who blogs at Design Sponge, but several issues such as unequal recognition still dominate the industry (Liu & Chang, 2010). There are several questions that I would like to explore in this topic among them being why there is unequal recognition, yet many bloggers are women, similarities, and differences between women and men bloggers and how privacy influence the involvement of women in blogging.

The Gender Gap in the Blogging Industry

When we talk about the gender gap in blogging, there is a background history on this issue. Research shows that more than 50 percent of blog authors are females and more than 55 percent write journal bloggers in the blogging industry (Pedersen & Macafee, 2007). However, even with this fact, the most recognizable bloggers in the world are men. This unequal recognition has led to heated debate among bloggers, with some accusing the industry of being sexist. While women are considered as creative as men, some say that their style is characterized by attenuation and supportiveness and that they have a great connection with community-based activities appreciation, questions, thanks, and apologies. On the other hand, men are considered to have different online styles such as being more confrontational, having self-promotion, positive sarcasm, and they have strong assertions, and hence people tend to have a positive reaction to the blogs they write as compared to those written by women.

Policies and Privacy in the Blogosphere

The blogosphere is guided by several policies that protect both men and women in this industry from external attacks and to make sure that bloggers themselves do not misuse their platform. There is confidentiality when it comes to blogging information that one has, that is, if one writes an original post and someone takes it, one can sue them (Liu & Chang, 2010). This includes company ideas and marketing strategies. Also, there are privacy rights that protect bloggers from being attacked due to their expressions through writing. Also, the bloggers themselves need to be truthful in their writing as they can be held responsible for any false information that they give out. Blogging is not hard to start; what one needs is ideas, and it doesn’t matter whether one is a man or a woman.

References

Pedersen, S., & Macafee, C. (2007). Gender differences in British blogging. Journal of Computer‐Mediated Communication, 12(4), 1472-1492.

Liu, E. Z. F., & Chang, Y. F. (2010). Gender differences in usage, satisfaction, self‐efficacy, and performance of blogging. British Journal of Educational Technology, 41(3).