Computer Mediated Communication

Gender Differences in

Computer Mediated Communications

On the Internet , no body knows you 're a dog ' Herring (2003 ,

.205 mentioned this caption of a cartoon bearing published in the New Yorker (July 1993 . May be in this age with the internet evolution it 's hard to know it 's a dog , but what about distinguishing user 's gender in computer-mediated communication (CMC ) is it easy or not . This essay tries to shade the light on some of these gender differences in computer-mediated communication (CMC

This essay gives an idea about computer-mediated

communication (CMC modes and the gap between CMC expectations and the fact that there are gender differences in CMC . Then it gives an idea about gender differences in traditional communication followed by exploring gender differences in CMC

First , it 's important to have an idea about CMC different modes According to Herring (2003 ,

.205 , computer mediated communication (CMC ) comprises a variety of interactive socio-technical modes . She gave some examples of these modes such as : e-mail , discussion lists and newsgroups , chat , MUDs (Multi-User Dimensions ) and MOOs (MUD , Object Oriented , IM (Instant Messaging . Dalampan (2006 ) classifies CMC modes into : synchronous and asynchronous (Figure .1 . The synchronous mode requires communication in real-time . However , the synchronous mode doesn 't require interlocutors to be online at the same time (p .59

Figure (1 : Types of CMC

Source : Dalampan (2006 . Gender Issues in Computer-Mediated Communications . TESL working , 4 (2

According to Dalampan (2006 , the field of computer-mediated communication (CMC ) continues to generate interest from sociolinguists who are concerned with whether the traditional gender differences in face-to-face interaction are carried over into online discourse (p .59 The problem that all studies tried to investigate is the gap between earlier high expectations for CMC concerning providing an environment that creates equity and the fact that gender differences still existed even in CMC environment

Li (2006 ) saw that many educators and researchers had high hopes for CMC , believing that it provided more equal access to information and communication and would ultimately lead to greater equity . Also , Hendry (2001 ,

.3 ) mentioned that earlier research in computer-mediated communication (CMC ) found that CMC promoted social equity . She explains that this could be due to predictions by many researchers that CMC would democratize communication and mitigate gender differences

Despite these claims that the relative anonymous communication on the Internet would break down traditional gender binaries , research has identified gender differences in computer-mediated discourse , similar to differences observed in spoken discourse (Herring , 2006

In to determine whether the language used by males and females in computer mediated communication (CMC ) reveal gender related differences or not , many studies were conducted . However , according to Li (2006 research findings concerning gender differences in CMC are mixed However , this essay will explore some of these gender differences in CMC in some related studies

Linguists have long recognized gender as a factor that may affect person 's linguistic productions (Baron , 2005 ,

.8 . Sociolinguists have written extensively about stylistic differences they have observed...