Gendered Language Features Based on Perceptions of Malaysian Millennials in Facebook Communication
Abstract
The study examined gendered language features based on perceptions of Malaysian millennials in Facebook communication. The data were collected from 60 millennials who were Facebook users living in Malaysia. In the study, the millennials were asked to read 14 comments by other Facebook users and asked to state whether they were written by female or male users and to justify their identification of gender. An analysis framework made based on past findings on gendered language features was used to code the 14 Facebook comments as female or male features. The analysis showed that the accuracy of gender identification was about 50%. Comments identified as written by males were those containing straightforward and short comments, harsh language, male discussion topics, and societal roles. Conversely, comments identified as written by females were those containing advice, expression of emotions, empathy, female discussion topics, and polite language. The findings suggest that some language features are losing a clear gender identification. The gender-neutral features emerge from female users who also use words with profanities and insults, and write in an autonomous or directive manner, and male users who engage in attenuation/experience sharing, and interpersonal orientation/supportiveness. The study indicates that despite the association of Facebook comment features with gender, gender identity lines are getting blurred among millennial Facebook users, making gender identification more difficult.
Keywords: Gendered language features, Malaysian millennials, Facebook, Facebook communication, online gender identification.
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Amir, Z., Abidin, H., Darus, S., & Ismail, K. (2012). Gender differences in the language use of Malaysian teen bloggers. GEMA Online® Journal of Language Studies, 12(1) 105-124.
Basow, S. A., & Rubenfeld, K. (2003). “Troubles talk”: Effects of gender and gender-typing. Sex Roles, 48(3), 183-187.
Basow, S. (2008). Speaking in a "man's world": Gender differences in communication styles. In M. A. Paludi (Ed.), The psychology of women at work: Challenges and solutions for our female workforce, Vol. 1. Career liberation, history, and the new millennium (pp. 15–30). Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Bogolyubova, O., Panicheva, P., Tikhonov, R., Ivanov, V., & Ledovaya, Y. (2018). Dark personalities on Facebook: Harmful online behaviours and language. Computers in Human Behavior, 78, 151-159.
Brack, J., & Kelly, K. (2012). Maximizing millennials in the workplace. UNC Executive Development, 22(1), 2-14.
Cameron, D. (2010). Sex/gender, language and the new biologism. Applied Linguistics, 31(2), 173-192.
Cheng, N., Chandramouli, R., & Subbalakshmi, K. P. (2011). Author gender identification from text. Digital Investigation, 8(1), 78-88.
Coates, J. (2015). Women, men and language: A sociolinguistic account of gender differences in language (3rd ed.). London: Routledge.
Dadvar, M., Jong, F. D., Ordelman, R., & Trieschnigg, D. (2012). Improved cyberbullying detection using gender information. Proceedings of the Twelfth Dutch-Belgian Information Retrieval Workshop (DIR 2012). Ghent, Belgium: University of Ghent.
Ellison, N., Heino, R., & Gibbs, J. (2006). Managing impressions online: Self-presentation processes in the online dating environment. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(2), 415-441.
Fung, K. T. M., Chuah, K. M., & Ting, S. H. (2020) Gender differences in computer-mediated communication: A case study on Malaysian millennials. Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews 8(3), 426-433.
Guiller, J., & Durndell, A. (2006). ‘I totally agree with you’: Gender interactions in educational online discussion groups. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 22(5), 368-381.
Guiller, J., & Durndell, A. (2007). Students’ linguistic behaviour in online discussion groups: Does gender matter? Computers in Human Behavior, 23(5), 2240-2255.
Gusiff, A. (2019, September 16). Blogging vs. Social Media: Here’s the difference. Issaquah, WA: Gusiff Marketing Group. https://gusiffcoaching.com/blog/blogging-vs-social-media-heres-the-difference
Hashim, F., Soopar, A. A., & Hamid, B. A. (2017). Linguistic features of Malaysian students’ online communicative language in an academic setting: The case of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Akademika, 87(1), 231-242.
Hayat, T. Z., Lesser, O., & Samuel-Azran, T. (2017). Gendered discourse patterns on online social networks: A social network analysis perspective. Computers in Human Behavior, 77, 132-139.
Herring, S. C. (1993). Gender and democracy in computer-mediated communication. In R. Kling (Ed.), Computerization and controversy: Value conflicts and social choices (pp. 476-489). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
Herring, S. C. (1994, June). Gender differences in computer-mediated communication: Bringing familiar baggage to the new frontier [Keynote address]. American Library Association annual convention, Miami, Florida. http://cpsr.org/issues/womenintech/herring2/
Herring, S. C. (2000). Gender differences in CMC: Findings and implications. CPSR: Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility Journal, 18(1), 1-9. http://cpsr.org/issues/womenintech/herring/
Herring, S. C. (2003). Gender and power in online communication. In J. Holmes & M. Meyerhoff (Eds.), The Handbook of Language and Gender (pp. 202-228). Hoboken, New Jersey: Blackwell Publishers.
Herring, S. C. (2013). Discourse in Web 2.0: Familiar, reconfigured, and emergent. Discourse, 2, 1-26.
Hills, M. (2000). You are what you type: Language and gender deception on the Internet [Unpublished bachelor’s honors thesis, University of Otago]. Natural language server. http://nl.ijs.si/janes/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/hills00.pdf
Holmes, J. (1989). Sex differences and apologies: One aspect of communicative competence1. Applied Linguistics, 10(2), 194-213. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/10.2.194
Izazi, Z. Z., & Tengku-Sepora, T. M. (2020). Slangs on social media: Variations among Malay language users on Twitter. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 28(1), 17-34.
Jackson, L. A., Ervin, K. S., Gardner, P. D., & Schmitt, N. (2001). Gender and the Internet: Women communicating and men searching. Sex Roles, 44(5), 363-379.
Kadir, Z. A., Maros, M., & Hamid, B. A. (2012). Linguistic features in the online discussion forums. International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, 2(3), 276-281.
Lakoff, G. (1975). Hedges: a study in meaning criteria and the logic of fuzzy concepts. In D. J. Hockney, B. Freed & W. L. Harper (Eds.), Contemporary research in philosophical logic and linguistic semantics (pp. 221-271). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
Miller, J., & Durndell, A. (2004). Gender, language and computer-mediated communication. In K. Morgan, J. Sanchez, C. A. Brebbia & A. Voiskounsky (Eds.), Human perspectives in the Internet society: Culture, psychology and gender (pp. 236-246). Southampton, UK: WIT Press.
Morris, E. (2013). She 'likes' it, he doesn't: Gender differences in Facebook communication behavior [Undergraduate Honors Theses, University of Colorado]. CU Scholar. https://scholar.colorado.edu/downloads/r207tp870
Mulac, A., Studley, L. B., & Blau, S. (1990). The gender-linked language effect in primary and secondary students' impromptu essays. Sex Roles, 23(9-10), 439-470.
Nazman, N. N. N., Chuah, K. M., & Ting, S. H. (2020). Tryna b Kewl: Textual analytics of distorted words among Malaysian millennials on Twitter. International Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering, 9(3), 3522-3526. http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/28937
Nevala, N. (2015). Female style vs. male style or something in between? A case study on gendered communication on the Humans of New York Facebook page [Master’s thesis, University of Jyväskylä Finland]. JYX Digital Repository. https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/48023
Postmes, T., & Spears, R. (2002). Behavior online: Does anonymous computer communication reduce gender inequality? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(8), 1073-1083. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672022811006
Savicki, V., Lingenfelter, D., & Kelley, M. (1996). Gender language style and group composition in Internet discussion groups. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2(3), JCMC232. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.1996.tb00191.x
Stapa, S. H., & Shaari, A. H. (2012). Understanding online communicative language features in social networking environment. GEMA Online® Journal of Language Studies, 12(3), 817-830.
Subrahmanyam, K., Smahel, D., & Greenfield, P. (2006). Connecting developmental constructions to the Internet: Identity presentation and sexual exploration in online teen chat rooms. Developmental Psychology, 42(3), 395-406.
Thomson, R., & Murachver, T. (2001). Predicting gender from electronic discourse. British Journal of Social Psychology, 40(2), 193-208.
Thomson, R., Murachver, T., & Green, J. (2001). Where is the gender in gendered language? Psychological Science, 12(2), 171-175.
Ting, S. H., & Yeo, D. (2019). Code-switching Functions in Facebook Wallposts. Human Behaviour, Development and Society, 20(3), 7-18.
Van Deursen, A. J., & Van Dijk, J. A. (2014). The digital divide shifts to differences in usage. New Media & Society, 16(3), 507-526.
Yates, S. J. (2001). Gender, language and CMC for education. Learning and Instruction, 11(1), 21-34.
Yeo, D., & Ting, S. (2017). Netspeak features in Facebook communication of Malaysian university students. Journal of Advanced Research in Social and Behavioural Sciences, 6(1), 81-90.
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
e-ISSN: 2289-1528