Gender differences online: self-representation and involvement in political communication on Facebook

Abstract

The paper aims to study gender differences in self-representation and involvement in political communication in social networks. The author presents the results of the study of Facebook postings within a viral flashmob 'The Island of the '90's' devoted to a controversial period of Russia's modern history. The author offers the rationale for their attribution to an online segment of political communication. A multidisciplinary approach involving the combination of methodologies of discourse analysis and content analysis served as guidelines for the study. A discourse analysis based on the sociocognitive approach to political discourse helps identify three stages of the flashmob evolution in the three series of postings: private memories, political discussions of the 1990s, and attitudes towards the flashmob. These three series of postings form and organise a three-level structure of the flashmob. Each level is characterised by a different extent of its involvement in the political context. Comparative analysis of male and female participation in the flashmob reveals gender asymmetry in the flashmob discourse structure and at its structural levels. The results show that there are gender differences in political involvement of females and males in online discourse: women prefer less visible or less offensive patterns of political behaviour online. The results lead to the conclusion that, compared to men, women are more flexible in their self-representation and their participation in the discourse has less political involvement. No significant evidence indicating gender differences' disappearance was observed, and no evidence of gender role stereotypes weakening or disappearance in political communication on Facebook was obtained.

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