Gefen & Ridings - (extra blog) Blog #18

The thing that stood out to me in this article the most was the fact that the gender-differences in communication generally have a negative effect on the conversation, due to cross-gender miscommunication. As the authors state, the gender differences in oral discourse are the result of socialized differences, and therefore should occur within informal written communication. As I have said before, this hasn't always been my experience in online courses, but I do see this idea often throughout everyday communication in the classroom setting. Furthermore, I agree with the way the authors state the way women communicate. For me, I know that I generally state my opinions or thoughts strongly, even in online discussions in courses. But, the authors explain that women usually communicate to create rapport or affinity, so their conversation is generally less forceful. I agree with the idea that women often communicate in such a way as to make it a point to include the whole group, and men do not attempt to accomplish the same thing. Looking back on my participation in class discussion boards or in-class discussions throughout college, I do see the tendency toward "softening" my speech/communication so to not offend anyone and to include more people.

"Participation in Electronic Discourse in a 'Feminist' Field" By Herring, Johnson, & DiBenedetto Blog #17

I still am amazed by the findings in this article--that men talk more than women in public settings. It may be that I'm from a large family of primarily girls (5 girls, 3 boys), so it seems to me that women talk far more than men and generally control the conversation more. I'm understanding more now that this is not always the case in academic discussion or classes, especially cyber discussions. What I found most interesting in this article was the fact that, even though men contributed about 80% of the posts and the points, they still reported that women controlled the discussion or that they dominated. This is so outrageous to me, and is evidence of the bias against women in general. It seems that women have to work twice as hard as men to be academically competitive, to be taken seriously, and to have their thoughts valued. Also, it seems that, in this study, the men felt that they were "shut out" rather easily. It's amazing to me that the women in this particular study put up with a lot, but at the first sign of resistance, the men complained.

" ‘I totally agree with you’: gender interactions in educational online discussion groups" J. Guiller & A. Durndell Blog #16

I was somewhat shocked by the findings presented in this article. I have been in several online classes with discussion based-curriculum and I have never felt that men are more aggressive or confrontational. I do agree with the idea that women often put in more of their own feelings, thoughts, or experiences compared to men, but that seems to be pretty true of women in general. Even if this sounds rude or unkind, in my experience with online courses, men seem to try to get by with as little discussion as possible. I continue to be shocked by results of studies finding that men are more verbose or more firm in their opinions. This has been the opposite of my experience. In every online course I've ever taken, and just about any class I've taken overall, women always seem to be the ones who want to speak up more or voice their thoughts.