I have done some writing on digital self management. I believe we're actually dealing with a new form of social interaction and also a new form of self-governance. If we were to be systematic about this Facebook inquiry, I imagine we might find: * Selves "post" on Facebook as a way of managing identity. Impression management is complicated by the multiplicity of "fronts" (in Goffman's sens) on Facebook * Gender mediates not the topic but the nuance of the post * (Hypothesis): women post in accordance with expectations of managing household responsibilities, "taking care" or nurturing those in the household, showing an interest or mastery of household members' preferences or medical needs * (Hypothesis) men post in accordance with expectations of dominance over a field of knowledge, showing a mastery of masculinized food activities such as "gourmet" pursuits or barbequeing * Both genders engage in impression management while at the same time participating in similar topics (e.g., food) * The projection of self through text, photo and other media, is a new skill that will increasingly be required as more and more of our lives become mediated by "posting" and more and more confused, multi-front virtual locations emerge On Sun, Nov 1, 2009 at 10:06 AM, Edward M. Corrado <ecorrado@ecorrado.us>wrote:
I am not a gender expert nor female but without a doubt photos that I post on Facebook of whatever it is I made for dinner get more comments than anything else. Although I never analyzed it, on the surface comments appear to contain the same type of content and are in similar numbers regaurdless of gender. I think it might be as simple as people like food.
Edward