Why Women Rule The Internet (by Aileen Lee of Kleiner Perkins)(techcrunch.com)
techcrunch.com
Why Women Rule The Internet (by Aileen Lee of Kleiner Perkins)
http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/20/why-women-rule-the-internet/
7 comments
I also found it to be a somewhat shortsighted analysis. Conventional opinion amongst U.S. elite is that it's a very bad thing when one group controls the means of production which is primarily utilized by another group (whether the grouping be along racial/gender/class/other lines). But here it's celebrated. I guess because it's an economic argument for getting more women into tech.
But we already "know" that men who go into tech are not representative of the general male population - why would women be any different?
But we already "know" that men who go into tech are not representative of the general male population - why would women be any different?
Well said. And sometimes cynicism is the right response.
"Males and females attend college at an almost even rate."
This isn't true. In 2008 it was 57% female/43% male and steadily growing more lopsided. [1]
[1] http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2010/section1/indicator07.as...
This isn't true. In 2008 it was 57% female/43% male and steadily growing more lopsided. [1]
[1] http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2010/section1/indicator07.as...
Presumably they rule the Internet because you'd be labelled sexist if you claimed men ruled the Internet.
> Presumably they rule the Internet because you'd be labelled sexist if you claimed men ruled the Internet.
This is drivel. They rule the Internet because they love to shop and connect with their friends. ;-)
Seriously: That article had actual numbers. They may be right or wrong, but acknowledging numbers matter in these discussions is an import step away from the handwavey pop-psychology bullshit this article might have been.
This is drivel. They rule the Internet because they love to shop and connect with their friends. ;-)
Seriously: That article had actual numbers. They may be right or wrong, but acknowledging numbers matter in these discussions is an import step away from the handwavey pop-psychology bullshit this article might have been.
To use those interesting statistics and come to the authors ridiculous conclusion further reiterates my personal opinion that if women in tech had an issue with how they were perceived, they'd start companies rather than roll of the eyes blog posts and step out the room conference panels.
This is a bit like saying cows rule the dairy industry.
I thought this part on Dunbar Numbers was particularly interesting:
"Perhaps none of this is surprising. Women are thought to be more social, more interested in relationships and connections, better at multi-tasking. There is also anthropological research to back this up. Dave Morin of Path introduced me to Dunbar’s Number, proposed by the anthropologist Robin Dunbar. The number is the theoretical limit of how many people with whom one can maintain stable relationships (thought to be 150). But Dunbar’s most recent research shows there are different numbers for women than men—that women are able to maintain quantitatively more relationships within every ring of closeness than men. Knowing that is an important factor if you want to build and stoke social network effects. More female users will likely help your company grow faster."
"Perhaps none of this is surprising. Women are thought to be more social, more interested in relationships and connections, better at multi-tasking. There is also anthropological research to back this up. Dave Morin of Path introduced me to Dunbar’s Number, proposed by the anthropologist Robin Dunbar. The number is the theoretical limit of how many people with whom one can maintain stable relationships (thought to be 150). But Dunbar’s most recent research shows there are different numbers for women than men—that women are able to maintain quantitatively more relationships within every ring of closeness than men. Knowing that is an important factor if you want to build and stoke social network effects. More female users will likely help your company grow faster."
I thought research showed that men were capable of maintaining more (as in quantity) "shallow" relationships, while women were able to keep a higher number of deeper relationships.
It is actually that women maintain slightly more relationships at every level of trust. The standard levels are: 5, 15, 50, and 150. Women tend to do around 8, 18, 80, 180. It is fairly fascinating research. Let me know if you guys have any other questions, love talking through this stuff.
Point of order: Amazon Mom, despite the name, is open to single fathers and generally anyone caring for a child. I mention this because it's worth looking into if you are such a person, even if you aren't a "Mom".
The fact that they called it Amazon Mom merely reinforces the article's point, so this isn't disagreement. I've found it useful and I don't want non-Moms to think it's not for them, that's all. (15% off diapers + 15% off subscribe & save items comes out to the lowest non-sale price for diapers I've found. That is, with a coupon and a sale we sometimes manage to beat the price of Amazon, but it's not something you can count on.)
The fact that they called it Amazon Mom merely reinforces the article's point, so this isn't disagreement. I've found it useful and I don't want non-Moms to think it's not for them, that's all. (15% off diapers + 15% off subscribe & save items comes out to the lowest non-sale price for diapers I've found. That is, with a coupon and a sale we sometimes manage to beat the price of Amazon, but it's not something you can count on.)
In case it's not clear, Amazon Mom is very much available to married Fathers too (and the plan is working, I'm getting addicted to Prime and will likely find myself subscribing once my "Mom" status runs out).
I don't think anyone truly rules the Internet. But if one were to be really honest and strict in trying to settle on which gender "rules" the Internet then the strongest argument would be made for males. Yes, women might shop more and/or converse more. But that's different from ruling. If most of the people who shop and converse in North Korea are female, does that mean North Korea is ruled by females? Clearly not: it is ruled by a man along with some other military men who are loyal to him.
A better thing than this perhaps, which a cynic might label as "it's easier to monetize women users". But that would be very cynical.