“Why Social Media Is Tailor Made For Women”

Now, it is a truth universally acknowledged that men think that women talk too much.  Am I right? 

Now, what men DON’T realise is that this talking serves a really useful purpose, in fact several purposes.  Back in the days when men were out hunting Woolley Mammoths and bringing home the bacon, the women were either in the fields bringing in the harvest, or they were looking after the children (or each other’s children), or making clothes and cooking.  The role of women was to build and maintain the community.  They learnt to rely on each other and support and encourage each other.  I mean, let’s face it giving birth with no anaesthetic, in all weathers was probably one of the scariest events of a woman’s life (apart of death of course). So having a supportive tribe of women around you was an absolutely essential.

Bringing up children requires strong communication, listening and empathising skills.  Whereas men are designed and programmed to fix things, take action, hunt wild animals, fend off attacks from other tribes and solve practical problems.  Caring, nurturing and empathising doesn’t come into it. 

Even in studies with new born babies – boy babies respond to mobiles made from  inanimate objects, whereas girls are more responsive to mobiles featuring pictures of human faces.

But what’s this got to do with Social Media?  Well – from where I stand (and feel free to disagree if you wish) – Social Media is where people come together to discuss, evaluate and share their thoughts.  Blogs build your reputation, Facebook create communities, Forums provide a platform for sharing experiences.   These you’d agree are strongly feminine activities.

In research in general, men are better at systematizing (the desire to analyze and explore systems and rules) and that women are better at empathizing (the ability to identify with other people’s feelings).  Which may explain why in the internet age men are busy designing new pieces of kit, software and clever systems to help Social Media join together, whereas women haven’t the slightest interest in the technology, they just want to talk to each other! 

BUT if women realised that the technology was there to help them do this – if they got over their fear of the technology they might begin to enjoy the experience more.  This article on Mashable goes further “Why Social Media Means Big Opportunities for Women”

“Human beings have always gotten together, collaborated through their church groups and PTAs, told stories over coffee or over the backyard fence.  Social media merely allows us to do what we’ve always done faster, better and with scale… From a persuasive standpoint, social media can be used to surface engagement opportunities and increase participation through building new social norms.”

Margarita Quihuis – Stanford University

Women are transferring their natural inclination to listen, discuss, share and empathise onto Social Media – through the technology which is being developed on the most part (dare I sat this at the risk of sounding sexist), by men!  Yes, yes, yes the IT industry is beginning to attract more women,  and paradoxically there are a lot of men out there who are completely flummoxed by technology.  So there are some exceptions to my argument.

But my point is this;  If you’re a woman who likes to meet and connect with new people, would like to become a thought leader, demonstrate your expertise, raise your visibilty in your industry and is keen to belong to a like-minded community.  The tools to connect, discuss, evaluate and share through the medium of Social Media are ready and waiting. 

You can take the conversation off line as well – that’s still part of the process – but don’t ignore the other secondary, virtual world which could give you opportunities previously out of your reach or take you to places you’d never imagined!

Do you agree?  Share your thoughts here…