The Manliest Things on the Internet
After hearing all that talk about Pinterest as the social network for ladies, we wondered what kind of stuff men did on the Internet, especially since we found out there's a whole male sharing culture happening on here.
.After hearing all that talk about Pinterest as the social network for ladies, we wondered what kind of stuff men did on the Internet, especially since we found out there's a whole male sharing culture happening on here. We've heard before that "women rule the Internet," which makes sense in a stereotypical sort of way, with all of their online shopping and, now, wedding planning. But after doing a little exploring, we found lots of men and lots of things for them to do here on this here Web. It's just a different kind of Web.
General, overall Internet usage is split pretty evenly between our two genders, with the scale tipping slightly in favor of ladies. The most recent statistics we found via Quantcast had men making up 49 percent of web users, and women 51 percent. Once the respective gender's boot up the Internet, however, they have different habits. Women like to socialize, the conventional wisdom goes. A 2009 Pew survey found 50 percent of women had ever used social networks, compared to 42 percent of gents. And, more recent Comscore data found ladies spend 16.3 percent of their time on social networks, compared to guys, who only devote 11.7 percent of their Internet time to that.
But, a closer look found men like socializing, too. Even though guys spend fewer hours Facebooking than women, the XY gender still devotes more of its Internet time social networking than any other online activity, according to that same Comscore data. They might not be pinning wedding dresses on Pinterest or uploading photos on Facebook -- women do a lot more of that than men, found Harvard research -- but they're there. Where is there, you might ask? Using Quantcast data for Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook, information from Comscore for Pinterest, and stats provided to us by Reddit and Gentlemint, we put together this gender breakdown of the social Web. We understand that "third party stats are always needing of large grains of salt," as Reddit's Erik Martin told us. But, each of the social networks declined to provide us with their own data. Using the data we could get our hands on, this is where the men are at:
Based on our knowledge of the general feel of these sites, having spent many hours persuing them, as well as the demographic breakdown (see chart below), we've put together a guy's guide to sharing on the Interwebs. (Gentlemint, as a brand new site, did not have this type of data available.)
Tumblr
The Perfect Fit: Hip millennials
Why? Saturated with equal parts girl and boy and chock full of young people trying to prove their hipness, Tumblr is like the Brooklyn of the Internet. Note the ages cluster around 20-something range
What's there to do? Porn; Single Serving Sites; Comedy; News
The Perfect Fit: Up and Coming [INSERT PROFESSIONAL TYPE]
Why? Twitter's about information gathering and distribution, but it's also about networking. There's even this thing called a Klout -- "The Standard for Influence" -- which apparently measures one's Twitter power. The established Jill Abramson's or Rupert Murdochs of the world are on there. But don't really have to worry about their behavior. (And neither of these names do, apparently, with Abramson tweeting almost nothing and Murdoch tweeting absurdities.) A rising star, however, can meet the right people and learn things about the world.
What's there to do? News, Punditry, Jokes
The Perfect Fit: Comfortable with Themselves Gen X-ers or Adventurous Internet Users
Why? Well, the Internet says that Pinterest is girly, which could scare away some fellas. And the demographics don't lie, there's a big female factor on there: 9 women for every 1 man. It takes a certain kind of man to enter such a lady heavy space. We've seen Internet heavy hitters like Mark Zuckerberg and Reddit's Alexis Ohanian, who are on there presumably to check out the competition.
What's there to do? Gadget porn, food porn, space porn
Gentlemint
The Perfect Fit: Dudes, bros, and gentlemen.
Why? The site calls itself "a mint of manly things" and The American Mustache Institute called it "one of the more manly websites on the planet." It also developed as an answer to girl-site Pinterest. "We see ourselves as more of a complement to Pinterest," founder Brian McKinney told Forbes' Alex Knapp. It's the type of place that attracts men who want to prove and protect their manlihood.
What's there to do? Fashion, shaving, cocktails, cartoons
The Perfect Fit: Dads
Why? We recognize that dudes from all walks of life live on Facebook, given that it's the most popular social-site on the Internet. But, we think that of all places on the Web, Dad's would feel most comfortable on Facebook. Everyone's there; it's organized; it's got a level of privacy that these other sites don't; and dads can probably find their friends (and ex-lovers?) here.
What's there to do? Reconnect with old "friends," post photos, stalk your kids, write status updates, follow celebrities, news
The Perfect Fit: Aging nerds
Why? There aren't too many cute girls to scare them away. And, it's basically the pulse of the Internet, which we all know is created and curated by nerds. It's for those not looking to step outside of their comfort zone.
What's there to do? This is the entire Internet in one cluttered site. So, everything from cat videos, to poop jokes, to news.
So there you have it men. Never say the Internet, or any of its parts, are just for ladiez. (We're looking at you Gizmodo.)