Women Own Social Media

It’s a man’s world, unless you’re online. New research shows that it’s actually women who are dominating the social media conversation. Data compiled by FinanceOnline shows that Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest all have more self-identified female than male users. Pinterest (duh) is the leading social network for women — at least 33 percent of women in the U.S. have an account.

The research also shows that women use social media in more facets of their lives than men do. Women are more slightly more likely than men to access social media on a smartphone or tablet, and significantly more likely to rely on news reporting on sites like Twitter and Facebook.

The gender gap swaps, though, when you’re talking about professional networking site LinkedIn. 24 percent of all adult men use LinkedIn, compared to only 19 percent of women. I’m sure this means that we’ll see a new influx of think pieces from right-wing bloggers on how this data displays that women are less interested in their careers than they are in pinning craft ideas and recipes on Pinterest.

Brands and companies are finding it easier to target women, probably because they’re the ones who are engaging with their favorite laundry detergent’s Facebook page to search out coupons and discounts. This stands to reason when you consider that women hold the majority of the country’s purchasing power, and are typically marketers’ most sought-after demographic.

This data indicates that it’s women who are driving the success of multi-billion dollar social media companies, even though the gender gap in Silicon Valley is still extremely problematic. In the industry, men who hold graduate degrees will be paid 73 percent more than women with similar credentials.

Even though women seem to be running the show, men are still very active on social media, logging on multiple times per day. If I’m guessing, many of them are too busy checking their OKCupid accounts and leaving hateful comments on feminist blogs to spend too much time interacting with their social media pals. But that’s just a guess.