Gender and Social Media: Delving into Young Adults’ Daily Participation on Facebook

Authors

Masa Tantawy, The American University in CairoFollow

Keywords

Gender, Social Media, Young Adults, Facebook, Embellishment

Document Type

Main Theme / Tema Central

Abstract

With the prevalence of social networking platforms, it is crucial to study the role that gender plays in its use, for gender, which is continuously shaped by society, plays a critical role in our identities and daily lives. This paper explores how the social construction of gender affects and is affected by social media through discussing the usage of Facebook by young adults, especially Middle Eastern cisgender males and females, and women’s limited freedom on this social networking site in the Arab countries. It is argued that despite individuals having some freedom online compared to offline, their choices, specifically that of women, is constrained within the borders set by societal gender norms.The main focus of this paper is on young adults since they are the dominant age group of users and on the use of Facebook due to its popularity and multi-functionality that allows an offering of tailored user experience. It is concluded that gender differences play a significant role in how social media is used since women tend to use social media for emotional interpersonal purposes while men use them in task-oriented individual manners alongside multiple other dissimilarities. Additionally, users tend to present an edited version of themselves online due to societal pressures and norms, and particularly women in the middle-east struggle to have complete liberty in their online behaviour.

Recommended Citation

Tantawy, Masa (2024) "Gender and Social Media: Delving into Young Adults’ Daily Participation on Facebook," Culture, Society, and Praxis: Vol. 16: No. 1, Article 2.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/csp/vol16/iss1/2