Is Twitter for Guys & Facebook for Girls?

    I got a hunch and here it is: facebook is more for girls and that twitter is more for guys.  Not sure why, but it's a hunch. It started when my wife Sue told me that she wanted to watch the final episode of The Bachelor tonight.  So I complained to all my friends on twitter in 140 characters or less, "my wife just explained to me how she will be watching the 2 hour Bachelor finale tonight...look for me on twitter."  Since I have my twitter automatically update my facebook status it showed up there too.  I had a hunch that I would get a reaction from people by whining about The Bachelor. What I didn't expect is that the comments and responses I got would reveal something else about these two favorite types of social networking.  Here's is what I noticed:

• I got 17 responses on facebook and 16 of the responses were from women (most declaring their love for The Bachelor) 
• I got 11 responses on twitter and 9 of them were male (all in favor of anything other than the Bachelor)

So my hypothesis is that there are a higher percentage of women who utilize facebook and that there are a higher percentage of men that are on twitter.  Agree?  Disagree?  Why?   Is there any research out there to support this?

Comments

[Andy Swartz]

Dave, my belief (and I use both) is that guys tend to use twitter because, as you say, it's 140 characters or less and pretty basic. Facebook allows for all sorts of applications, the ability to post notes, tag people in those notes, add pictures, etc., and if my wife is any gauge, she likes the bells and whistles of facebook while I like the quick status update of twitter. Just my 2 cents though. - Andy

[kirk]

And then blogs are so 2008 that only old guys like us spend time doing longer interpretations about what we twitter about (and update our Facebook status with.) On a related thought, I'm pretty sure that Twitterers are, on average, older than Facebookers (though recent trends may change that assumption.) And we get to continue to minister to folks regardless. :)

[Sam Middlebrook]

Guys don't want cute pictures of your puppy in the backyard. Guys don't want to see hear songs playing in the background by Josh Grobin. Guys don't want to know how you felt about your day, they just want to know what the heck you did.

Girls don't care what you did, they want you to expand on how what you did impacted your emotions. Girls aren't interested to know that you're watching the bachelor, they want to know how you view the bachelor and each of the contestants, and secretly are wanting to know how they compare to them in your eyes.

Yes, Twitter is for guys.
Yes, Facebook is for girls.

[Jenni Clayville]

HA! I must be a guy at heart then, cuz I check my Facebook maybe once a day and twitter non-stop.

[ryan]

Women tend to be more relational. Facebook brings a more relational-driven social networking experience with pictures, notes, messages, wall posts, etc.

Men tend to be more informational. Twitter allows for links and updates to be exchanged quickly and concisely.

However, it would be too much of a generalization to say that one is for guys while the other is for gals. As a dude, I use Facebook and enjoy seeing a couple of pictures and notes about people's thoughts, but overall I enjoy and use Twitter far more for the information and insight I can gather.

[Jeff]

It's probably true Dave that the 140 character limit has higher appeal to men; On Twitter we can grunt and use words like uh, uhg, um, duh, yea, nah, ok, oh, bla bla, etc. But what's amazing is that men would associate with a utility that starts with "twit." My wife watched the bachelor show tonight. While I worked I had to listen and catch some of it... and got pretty nautious.

[ellie]

As a woman, may I say The Bachelor is depraved. Having been single a loooooong time, I would have never put myself in a competitive situation for love like these women (sometimes men) do.

Can you imagine spending an evening with someone you like, kissing a bit, and knowing that he probably had a breakfast date where he was making out and a lunch date where he did the same?

Ewwww.

Oh, I don't Twitter or follow anyone who does (sorry Dave), I am on facebook (where I like to keep my friends around 100ish), and I do have a blog--only to learn here that I'm so 2008.

Oh well, time to post.

[Anne]

Maybe I'm odd.. but I'm a woman and I never even think about watching the Bachelor.. I agtee with Elli for sure.. And for my part, I was watching NCIS last night.

[Brad Gross]

I COULDN'T AGREE MORE!!!!

[Debbie]

I don't watch any reality TV, I don't know what Twitter is, I only have 23 FB friends and I've only had a cell phone for one year. I'm totally techno-challenged and get my biggest thrill when there's a hand-written letter in my mailbox (OK, I do use email a lot ,,, but I still enjoy handwritten letters and in fact do still write and receive them!) I'm a female, if that helps your research ,,, but I doubt it. I think the telling fact to my situation is that I'm over 50! (halfway to 60 in a few months! ugh!) :0

[Dave Lewis]

Dave, I'm with you on the Bachelor thing. My wife watches it faithfully. I tried watching it, but lost interest after about ten minutes into the show. as to the twitter/facebook controversy, I think Ryan nailed it w/the emotional/relational connection. Women are more social. They like the cute photos and stuff.
Me? I like them both about the same, except when certain people post 5 or 6 tweets in a row, so they can say what they want to say...To that, I say, "if you can't say it w/140 characters, GET A BLOG!"

[Jeff]

There wasn't some hockey game on last night you could have watched??? Turn in your guy card, Dave.

[ellie]

I know a guy who has posted over 100 photos of his silky terriers on facebook. Oh yeah, he's also posted over two dozen pix of his BMW too.

He has way more friends than me, but I don't know if he watches The Bachelor. I think I'll ask him.

ellie

[ellie]

Arrrgghhhh, he claims he watches it because his wife does! And HIS name is Dave too.

Ewwwww!

[Jeff]

Thanks Dave. You have given me a bit if a complex now about facebook. Just when I was making a go at figuring it out and trying to like it, I find out it might be for girls! (No wonder I never liked it much :)

[Jason Norris]

I've heard a lot of gender generalizations, but this one is new to me.

"Women are relational" and "men are informational" are generalizations that can sometimes stigmatize the millions of men and women who do not fit the stereotypes.

A more useful explanation of differences between people is personality type. Read the differences between "Thinkers" and "Feelers" and you'll get the idea. 30-40 percent of men are Feelers; 30-40 percent of women are Thinkers. That's several million people in the United States alone.

As to the particular purpose of this post, I use both Twitter and Facebook, but I use Facebook more. It has more features and is more useful.

Twitter is extremely limited, and I'm still trying to figure out what's the point of it.

[Shane Vander Hart]

Actually I think I have as many girls following me on Twitter as I do guys. I have as many guys as girls that I'm friends with on Facebook, but it seems like it is the girls who will comment more on status updates, write on my wall, etc.

[Belinda Kendall]

MAYBE!!
But I like both!
About India?
Gary and I are going to attend the Exponential Conference next month and were wondering if we could get a few minutes to talk more about teaching barefoot pastors in India.
Janet McMahon actually was a part of the women's team a few years ago.

[Dave Ferguson]

Belinda,

I'm sure we can find some time to talk. Shoot me an e-mail. Teaching church planters in India would be a great adventure, but like I said I'm not sure about timing. I'm already looking at the possibility of international travel in September and November of this year.

Thanks. I love what you and Gary are doing!

Dave

[Brad]

Twitter is for guys.
Facebook is for girls.
Blogs are for pastors?

[Twitter Deal]

I don't think that these difference would be there on Twitter For Guys and Facebook for Girls. I think Twitter and facebook is mainly using by all people. Right now Most update on Google Plus has been come in which most of the user are the Guys. Let see what happen further.

[Web Development Services India]

I think Twitter and facebook is mainly using by all people. Right now Most update on Google Plus has been come in which most of the user are the Guys. Let see what happen further. Girls don't care what you did, they want you to expand on how what you did impacted your emotions.

[Broadband Speed Test]

Interesting findings. I read an article showing 2010 social demographics which showed 46%:54% (Male:Female) ratio of users on Facebook and 48%:52% on Twitter.