Women spend more time interacting with brands and with people through social media than their male counterparts do.
According to the research compiled by FinancesOnline, women use social media websites like Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter more than do men. The only social media platform that has a larger male presence is LinkedIn.
Women slightly outrank men when it comes to daily usage of social media. Thirty percent of women use social media multiple times a day, whereas only 26 percent of men use it multiple times a day.
As women spend more time on social media websites, they increase their social presence and relational interactions. Cici Nye, social media coordinator with digital marketing at Adobe and a BYU grad, shared how she uses social media as a way to connect with her followers on social media websites.
“I have more male followers on Twitter and more female followers on Pinterest,” Nye said. “I’m not really changing my posts to resonate with a specific gender; I’m seeking to be myself on social media. Hopefully when I’m my honest self on social media, that resonates with my followers and creates a connection with them.”
BYU student Jessica Wilson plans on becoming a graphic designer and photographer and has already started her own business. She uses social media as a way to promote her business and has already seen the benefits it brings to her future career. She also recognizes the pattern that women are on social media more often than men.
“I believe that more women post on social media,” Wilson said. “I think we, as women, are more likely to be vocal about our achievements, acquisitions and relationships, and we like showing that to people. It’s not saying one way is better than the other, just that women share more verbally.”
Social media has been used as a tool to connect different publics for years. It is a way for companies and businesses to reach out to consumers. Along with having a larger presence on social media to connect with other people, women also show support of companies using social media 10 percent more than men do.
Becca Jolley, a BYU therapeutic recreation management major, uses social media as a way to stay connected to others in her major and future careers.
“My major uses social media a lot,” Jolley said. “Our profession has several Facebook groups where we can post questions, activity ideas or job openings. A lot of (therapeutic recreation) professionals also use Pinterest to collect activity ideas. Furthermore, social media has helped me stay involved in the profession nationally. Social media has definitely helped our profession grow and continually improve.”
With such a strong female presence on social media, Internet users can use this information to cater their messages to be the most effective. But Nye summarized it best with her advice on using social media.
“I believe that women and men both have great strengths that can allow them to reach out to others on social media,” Nye said. “There’s no one right way to do things on social media, but there are a lot of ways to do things wrong. Learn the social etiquette of the networks you’re present on.”
