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A recent study by Andrew Edelblum, assistant professor of marketing, and Nathan B. Warren, associate professor of marketing at BI Norwegian Business School, showed that men who post often on social media are seen as feminine, a phenomenon they refer to as the “frequent-posting femininity stereotype.”

“As consumer behavior researchers, we have long been interested in the contradictions, peculiarities and restrictions associated with masculinity,” said Edelblum.

These dynamics have far-reaching implications in the world of marketing. It is widely known, for example, that Coke Zero was created as an alternative to Diet Coke, a product that men notoriously shied away from for its perceived ties to women who wanted to lose weight. There’s even a tendency for people to think it is unmanly to sleep more, because needing rest is connected to being weak and vulnerable.

Edelblum and Warren thought about how some of these notions might come into play on social media. Polling data suggests that men and women use social media platforms in very different ways: For example, men tend to be on fewer platforms overall and don’t post as often as women on apps like Instagram.

“We wondered if gender biases had anything to do with why,” said Edelblum. “Are men judged harshly when they share on social media?”

To test this question, they ran a series of experiments in which respondents were asked to evaluate a “normal, average, ordinary” man who either frequently or rarely posts on social media. To provide a more concrete picture, they described the man as someone who posts online for fun and has a moderate number of followers.

Respondents consistently rated the man as more feminine when he was described as a frequent social media poster. This was true regardless of assumptions made about the man’s age, education, wealth and preferred social media platform. They also controlled for the gender, age, political beliefs and social media use of the people who participated in the study.

“Notably, we used an identical scenario to describe a woman’s posting behavior — and post frequency had no effect on how feminine people thought she was,” said Edelblum.

They discovered that anyone who frequently posts, regardless of their gender, comes across as a person who seeks attention and validation. But this projected sense of neediness only translates to perceived femininity in men. This is in line with research that has shown that rejecting femininity is crucial to conventional notions of manhood, while avoiding masculinity is not necessarily crucial to conventional womanhood. Indeed, ads, TV shows, movies and music continue to reinforce ideas that men be resolutely stoic and self-sufficient. 

“Our results indicate that by posting frequently online, men come across as less masculine,” said Edelblum. “Not only that, but the ‘frequent-posting femininity stereotype’ effect turned out to be even more stubborn than we expected.”

Two of their experiments attempted, but ultimately failed, to curb this bias.

First, they examined whether men were judged differently when sharing content about others as opposed to themselves — the idea being that this form of posting behavior would come across as considerate and not as validation-seeking. Second, they examined whether male influencers — who post largely for professional reasons — faced the same stereotype.

“In both cases — and to our surprise — frequent posting caused participants to see these social media users as more feminine,” said Edelblum.

However, this study only included participants from the U.K. and U.S., so other cultures may view posting behaviors differently.

Their current research suggests the link between frequent posting and femininity is durable and reflects persistent gender dynamics. Future studies could explore how platforms can curb this prejudice through design. 

The researchers noted that men are experiencing historic rates of social isolation and facing dire mental health consequences. “This health crisis is likely exacerbated by pervasive biases that make men feel like they can’t talk about their problems or ask for help,” said Edelblum. “The frequent-posting femininity stereotype reveals another instance in which men are judged for attempting to express themselves and build social connections.

“As New York Times correspondent Claire Cain Miller wrote in 2018, there are ‘many ways to be a girl but one way to be a boy,’ both in Western cultures and around the world,” said Edelblum.

“What will it take for that rigid definition of manhood to be broadened?”

This article is adapted from a piece that originally appeared in The Conversation.