Gender Differences 19
gender in explicit and non-explicit ways. In fact, this study suggests that personal home pages do not
appear to have promoted a new mode of gender-neutral communication, but rather, they serve as new
forums for traditional gender-specific communication.
The current sampling limitations of Internet research prohibit generalizations from these findings
to adolescents’ home pages in general, but they do provide good reason to continue investigations of how
new media communication is replicating offline correspondence in terms of gender performance and
identification. Future research should explore the unique motives and gratifications enjoyed by
adolescent home page authors, in particular, whose developmental quest for identity renders the personal
home page an appealing place for self-expression and communication.