Inequality in Blogging

According to Dustin Harp and Mark Tremayne in their essay "The Gendered Blogosphere: Examining Inequality Using Network and Feminist Theory" men dominate the blog scene online. They say that the blogs receiving the most links are disproportionately male. When a blog has more links it gets more attention on higher levels, such as more attention from mainstream media and political elites. However, the percentages of male to female blog authors are not far apart (57% men 43% female). The argument that far less women are online is also not true because 61% of women and 66% of men use the internet, fairly close.

They suggest that the blogosphere is not unlike the social interactions that have shaped cultures elsewhere. It is also important to point out that negative social and political aspects of the real world will continue in the virtual world as well. This is because the internet will become a place for the powerful to flourish and the powerless to have little voice.

It is true that the internet offers an arena for feminists to express their beliefs, but we must also be aware of its limitations. The internet has limitations because women are still seen as part of a private life of home, private relations, and having a family while men are seen as having a responsibility to the public through government and commercial establishments. Limitations are also seen by studies that show that women are less likely to express political opinions and have a less authoritative style in their conversations.

On the contrary, sites like http://feministblogs.org give women the opportunity to blog openly in a "malestream" media. Through the observations I have made I would like you to be aware of the inequality on the web, instead of viewing it as totally free speech.