Conclusion and Future Implications
This study examines messages posted on a message board, which is a form of text-based
electronic communication that is used to a lesser extent by Internet users compared to e-mail or
instant messengers. Additional investigations into the psychological, social, cultural, and/or
technological means of text-based computer-mediated communication should be explored in
order to determine the factors that create such a difference. Only masculinity and femininity
scores were analyzed for this study – the rationale that causes respondents to perceive a message
as masculine or feminine could also be further investigated. The effects of individual
communication behavior and habits of the subject could be explored in subsequent studies. The
impact of perceived credibility of the message source can be an additional variable that can be
examined in a future study.
The primary purpose of this study is to examine gender stereotypes in computer-mediated
communication. Although there is evidence that there are gender inequalities in terms of
technological use and proficiency (e.g. Allen, 1995; Witte, Amoroso, & Howard, 2000) and that
gender-based sexism occurs in the form of online sexual harassment (e.g. Spender, 1995), online
identity theft and cyberrape (e.g. MacKinnon, 1996), this study only addresses the inherent
psychological traits that are commonly attributed to males and females. The impact of anonymity
and false identities provided in cyberspace, especially the danger it poses to vulnerable
populations such as females and children can also be explored.
Convention