Are Women Better at Social Media?
At the Ocean Agency the interactive marketing department and the interactive design department are separated by a wall. The room of designers is 100% male, and the interactive marketing department, minus yours truly, is 100% female. In the latest round of applicants for our interactive marketing and copy-writing internship, all were women. While this evidence is anecdotal, at best, it begs the question, why is our office split along gendered lines? It also raises a larger question ( inspired by a recent post on DShan’s blog): Do men and women use social media differently? Why?
Image via Audible Marketing
Dhan’s blog post focused on the lack of male “lifestyle” bloggers in the cool blogger community he helps to run, called 2o Something Bloggers. The response to the post was amazing, with around 80 comments thus far examining the impact of gender on blogging, and lots of different theories as to why men and women blog differently.
The theories ranged from a woman’s need to be connected socially, to society’s gendered expectations where men are pushed to be experts and women are pushed to be popular.
I’m not going to claim to know the answer to this complex question, but I think it would hep to look at some examples of men and women who are excelling in social media and interactive marketing (these are ranked in no particular order):
1) Julia Roy: She is a social strategist at Undercurrent, a “digital strategy think tank in NY”. She has a very impressive and active twitter presence and just about all around dominates the social web.
2) Sarah Evans : She runs her newly formed digital PR firm, is a guest writer for Mashable and is leading the pack in re-branding public relations. If every PR person was like her, we would not think of them as evil spammers but rather as talented and connected human voices.
3) Monica O’Brien: She is taking entrepreneurship back, and building a community around young people who see the world outside of a 9-5 — while still making money to support creative and fulfilling lifestyles.
4) Scott Klienberg: He is a social media specialist for Red Eye, and the Chicago Tribune. Really interesting voice with a great following.
5) Derek Shanahan: He is one of the community managers and trust agents for the 20 something blogger social network, and a very talented blogger.
So looking at these examples, are women better at social media?
Honestly, it is a really complicated question that has no easy solution. My two cents: Men and women can both connect with others on social media equally– but it is less socially acceptable for men to do so. I really feel like this will change, and here is why: In this economy, you need to market yourself and your personal brand. Whether you are a small company, an individual, or a fortune 100 company– you can not afford to blend in.
Social media may be the most effective branding tool ever created. It allows you to show personality and interact in unforeseen ways. People are beginning to realize that this translates in to profits for corporations and a leg up in the job search for individuals. Take the example of Sydney Owen, she just graduated college and is already becoming a powerful voice in the PR industry based on her blog and social media hustle.
Stories like hers will inspire millions to embrace the social web, and I bet that these gender dynamics will even out. What do you think?
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