Smile when you say that: Graphic accents as gender markers in computer-mediated communication. Chapter in NETWORK AND NET-PLAY: Virtual Groups on the Internet
Witmer, D. F. and Katzman, S.L.
1998
Edited by Sheizaf Rafaeli and Fay Sudweeks and Margaret McLaughlin
Published by AAAI/MIT Press
ISBN 0-262-69206-6
Men and women talk differently; do these differences exist on computers? Those differences may show in symbols such as "smiley faces."
Our hypothesis is that women use more symbols in computer-mediated communication (CMC). The method was content analysis of randomly accessed discussion groups. Data partially supported the hypothesis. Nobody uses symbols much, but computer users who use them tend to be women. Perhaps aesthetic quality and expression of emotion translates to CMC. However, data did not support hypotheses that men use more challenging language and express anger more often than women.