GENDER DIGITAL DIVIDE AND SOCIAL MEDIA (FACEBOOK ...

International Journal of Social Science & Interdisciplinary Research____________________________ ISSN 2277-3630 IJSSIR, Vol. 3 (6), JUNE (2014) Online available at indianresearchjournals.com

GENDER DIGITAL DIVIDE AND SOCIAL MEDIA (FACEBOOK): FEMALE USING SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE EFFECT OF LITERACY RATE AND GDP (PPP) AND COUNTRY LOCATION EVON ABU-TAIEH PHD, FACULTY OF COMPUTER INFORMATION SYSTEMS, THE UNIVERSITY OF JORDAN, AQABA – JORDAN.

ABSTRACT This paper is an analysis for proportion of women using social media, namely Facebook, and the effect of literacy rate, GDP (PPP) and country location. The study included 162 countries with a total of 957,358,940Facebook users of whom451,477,260 are women, which amounts to 47 percent are female users. The research found that the 162 countries fall into three categories: first, fewer women than men use Facebook (83 countries). Second category, almost equal number of women and men use Facebook (53 countries). Third category, more women use Facebook than men (26 countries). The research also, found that there is positive correlation between GDP (PPP) and female literacy rate when being considered in the analysis of the ratio of female to male social media users. On a different dimension, the paper addresses the impact of the continent where the country is located, and if this factor has an effect on the ratio of Facebook female to male users. KEY WORDS: Gender digital divide, social media.

Introduction This paper is an analysis for ratio of women using social media, namely Facebook, and the effect of both literacy rate and GDP (PPP). First the paper analyzes the ratio of women to men in 162 countries with a total of 957,358,940users, of whom451,477,260are women. . Hence, women represent only 47% of the Facebook users. Subsequently, the paper goes on to discuss the different dimensions of women to man ratios. Furthermore, the paper argues the effect of literacy and how the ratio of women to men using Facebook correlates with literacy of women. Next, the paper discusses the effect of GDP (PPP) and how the GDP (PPP) associates with the ratio of woman to man using Facebook. According to this research, the 162 countries fall into three categories: first, fewer women than men use Facebook (83 countries). Second, almost equal number of women and men use Facebook (53 countries). Third, more women use Facebook than men (26 countries). On a different dimension, the paper addresses the impact of the continent where the country is located, and if this factor has an effect on the ratio of Facebook female to male users. In this context, the paper will attempt to determine whether there is uniformity or discrepancy among the countries of each continent, starting with Asia which was represented by 39 countries, Europe, which was represented with 43 countries, then Latin America and the Caribbean was represented by 29 countries, and concluding with U.S.A and Canada that represented 19% of the population of the study.

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Importance of the study: This paper is an analysis for ratio of women using social media, namely Facebook, and the effect of both literacy rate and GDP (PPP). On a different dimension, the paper addresses the impact of the continent where the country is located, and if this factor has an effect on the ratio of Facebook female to male users. In this context, the paper will attempt to determine whether there is uniformity or discrepancy among the countries of each continent, This study aims to: 1. Shows the percentage of women using Facebook, and how both literacy rate and GDP(PPP) affect the woman to man ratio. 2. Show the country location affect on the woman to man ratio. 3. Sheds a light on the interrelation between literacy rate and GDP(PPP) and country location on the woman to man ratio in using social media mainly Facebook. Questions of the study: The percentage of woman in society is more than 50%. Statistics in the world state the fact that when taking social senses the number of woman usually is more than men. Hence one would expect that the number of woman when using social media would be equal if not more than men. Furthermore, this study started with first question 1. How many men and women do use the social media Facebook? 2. What are the ratio of woman to man in different countries? 3. Does literacy rate and GDP(PPP) affect the ration found in the study? 4. Does the country location and continent affect the ration of women to men ? Problem of the study: Women are very important aspect of society. Women presence in social medial is a clear indication to a number of factors including: literacy rate, penetration of information technology into society, the digital divide between genders. Hence, this paper sheds a light on the ratio of women to men and the affects of literacy rate, GDP(PPP) and country location. The limits of the study: This study was limited to 162 countries and only to three attributing measurable factors that affect the woman to man ratio namely: literacy rate, GDP(PPP) and country location. Methodology of the study and the method of data collection: The research excavated the data pertaining to Facebook through the ad pages of the Facebook. The Facebookprovides access to find the information pertaining to determine how many men and women can be reached in a certain country. The study was conducted in the late 2012, when a total number of 162 countries were determined, and for each country the number of men and women were retrieved. In the same token the numbers for GDP(PPP) and Literacy rate were both retrieved from The World Fact Book from the CIA library (CIA, 2013).The GDP (PPP) stands for Gross Domestic Product which are derived from Purchasing Power Parity, the facts were retrieved from IMF estimates for the year 2012. GDP (PPP) as explained by (IMF, 2013) "is calculated by dividing a country's nominal GDP in its own currency by the PPP exchange rate." To measure the correlation the research used Pearson Correlation.Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient is a measure of linear correlation dependence between two variables. The PCC produces a value ranges from -1 to +1, where the positive values indicate positive correlation, and the negative value indicates negative correlation, while the 0 value indicates no correlation. PCC is calculated by dividing the covariance of two variables on the standard deviation of each variable. 133


Previous studies: A number of studies were conducted in the arena of Facebook as a social network. Three researches presented below each discuss the social network from one aspect, but none studied the aspect of gender divide and the factors creating gender divide in social networks. 1. A review article titled "Why do people use Facebook?" published in Journal "Personality and Individual Differences" Volume 52, Issue 3, February 2012, Pages 243–249. The authors , Nadkarn and Hofmann, concluded two primary motivating factors: first, the need to belong and the second is the need for self-presentation. They also stated that "Demographic and cultural factors contribute to the need to belong, whereas neuroticism, narcissism, shyness, self-esteem and self-worth contribute to the need for self-presentation." 2. In a study about "How the internet and mobile phones impact Americans‟ social networks", by (Hampton et al, 2009) found that "People‟s use of the mobile phone and the internet is associated with larger and more diverse discussion network". In fact, the authors stated that "And, when we examine people‟s full personal network– their strong and weakties – internetuseingeneralanduseofsocialnetworkingservicessuchasFacebook in particular areas sociated with more diverse social networks." 3. A research titled "Identity Construction on Facebook: Digital Empowerment in Anchored Relationships " by Zhao, S., Grasmuck, S., and Martin, J.. and published in journal Computers in Human Behavior. The researchers studied Identity construction in the virtual world of internet specifically the Facebooksocial media. The research found that "Facebook users predominantly claim their identities implicitly rather than explicitly; they „„show rather than tell” and stress group and consumer identities over personally narrated ones. " Women to Men Ratio in Facebook According to the study conducted and summarized in the table (1), there are three categories: the first category where number of Facebook female users is less than the number of Facebook male users. The second category the number of Facebook female users is almost equal to the number of Facebook male users. The third category the number of Facebook female users is more than the number of Facebook male users. As illustrated in Figure (1), the first category included 83 counties with 108,931,860 women FaceBook users while men count was 189,012,540 with a total of 297,944,400. Hence, women represent only 37% of the FaceBook users in this category. Result can be explain by (Herring, 2000) research. The second category included 53 counties with 186,438,580women FaceBook users while men count was 183,024,360 with a total of 369,462,940. Hence, women represent only 50% of the FaceBook users in this category. The countries are : Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Fiji, France, Germany, Grenada, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Malta, Mexico, Mongolia, Namibia, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vanuatu. The third category included 26 counties with 156,106,820 women FaceBook users while men count was 133,844,780 with a total of 289,951,600. Hence, women represent only 54% of the FaceBook users in this category.

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International Journal of Social Science & Interdisciplinary Research____________________________ ISSN 2277-3630 IJSSIR, Vol. 3 (6), JUNE (2014) Online available at indianresearchjournals.com • 83 countries • Total population: 297,944,400 Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Comoros, Cyprus, Djibouti, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Qatar, Rwanda, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia

Womenmen • 26 countries • Total population: 289,951,600 Australia, Barbados, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, Dominica, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Guyana, Hong Kong, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, New Zealand, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela

Figure (1): Categories with county count and population.

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The overall picture shows 162 countries with 451,477,260 woman using FaceBook and 505,881,680 man using FaceBook with total of 957,358,940 FaceBook user. Hence, women represent only 47% of the FaceBook users. It is worthwhile to further investigateand determine what does the percentage of each category out of the total number of Facebook users symbolize. The first Category represent only 31% of the whole population, while, the second and third category represent 39% and 30% respectively. As such, the female users in the first category represent only 31% of the total population of the Facebook users, whereas, the second and third categories represent 69% of the total population of the Facebook users. According to the study, the first category can be divided to subcategories as shown in the table (2) below. The first category included 83 countries with population of 297,944,400 which represents 31% female users of the total population. The first subcategory is distinguished by the ration 3:10 of women to men users. In this subcategory fell 8 countries with total users of 66,303,360 and 16,698,660 FaceBook users are women while 49,604,700 are men. This subcategory‟s population represents 7% of the total population and represents 22% of the first category. The countries are: Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Chad, India, Mali, Niger, Togo, and Yemen. The second subcategory is distinguished by the ration 4:10 of women to men. In this subcategory fell 13 countries with total users of 21,371,000and 6,312,140Facebook users are women while 15,058,860are men. This subcategory‟s population represents 2% of the total population and represents 7% of the first category. The countries are Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Iraq, Mauritania, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Tanzania, and Turkmenistan. The third subcategory is distinguished by the ration 5:10 of women to men. In this subcategory fell 17 countries with total users of 22,469,580 and 7,407,760 FaceBook users are women while 15,061,820 are men. This subcategory‟s population represents 2% of the total population and represents 8% of the first category. The countries are: Albania, Algeria, Burundi, Eritrea, Ghana, Kuwait, Libya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, and Zambia. The fourth subcategory is distinguished by the ration 6:10 of women to men. In this subcategory fell 13 countries with total users of 53,922,200 and 19,738,840 FaceBook users are women while 34,183,360 are men. This subcategory‟s population represents 6% of the total population and represents 18% of the first category. The countries are: Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cambodia, Cameroon, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Haiti, Kenya, Maldives, Morocco, Turkey, and Uzbekistan. The fifth subcategory is distinguished by have the ration 7:10 of women to men. In this subcategory fell 13 countries with total users of 58,363,320 and 24,213,320 FaceBook users are women while 34,150,000 are men. This subcategory‟s population represents 7% of the total population and represents 20% of the first category. The countries are : Central African Republic, China, Gabon, Indonesia, Jordan, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tunisia.

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Countries Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Comoros, Cyprus, Djibouti, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Qatar, Rwanda, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Fiji, France, Germany, Grenada, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Malta, Mexico, Mongolia, Namibia, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vanuatu Australia, Barbados, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, Dominica, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Guyana, Hong Kong, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, New Zealand, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela Total

Category

Woman

Man

Total

Country count

Percentage of category

Woman man

156,106,820

133,844,780

289,951,600

26

30%

451,477,260

505,881,680

957,358,940

162

100%

Table (1): study 3 categories

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International Journal of Social Science & Interdisciplinary Research_____________________________ ISSN 2277-3630 IJSSIR, Vol. 3 (5), MAY (2014) Online available at indianresearchjournals.com

The sixth subcategory is distinguished by have the ration 8:10 of women to men. In this subcategory fell 16 countries with total users of 35,862,340 and 16,057,700 FaceBook users are women while 19,804,640 are men. This subcategory‟s population represents 4% of the total population and represents 12% of the first category. The countries are: Bolivia, Botswana, Cyprus, Greece, Guatemala, Laos, Lebanon, Macedonia, Mauritius, Montenegro, Peru, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Swaziland, and Vietnam. Countries Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Chad, India, Mali, Niger, Togo, Yemen EquatorialGuinea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Iraq, Mauritania, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, SaudiArabia, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Turkmenistan Albania, Algeria, Burundi, Eritrea, Ghana, Kuwait, Libya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, SierraLeone, SriLanka, Uganda, UnitedArabEmirates, Zambia Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cambodia, Cameroon, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Haiti, Kenya, Maldives, Morocco, Turkey, Uzbekistan CentralAfricanRepublic, China, Gabon, Indonesia, Jordan, Madagascar, PapuaNewGuinea, SolomonIslands, Tunisia Bolivia, Botswana, Cyprus, Greece, Guatemala, Laos, Lebanon, Macedonia, Mauritius, Montenegro, Peru, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Swaziland, Vietnam Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cape Verde, El Salvador, Italy, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Tuvalu Total

Woman to man ratio

Number of Women

Number of Men

Total

Number of Countries

Percentage of category

3:10

16,698,660

49,604,700

66,303,360

8

7%

4:10

6,312,140

15,058,860

21,371,000

13

2%

5:10

7,407,760

15,061,820

22,469,580

17

2%

6:10

19,738,840

34,183,360

53,922,200

13

6%

7:10

24,213,320

34,150,000

58,363,320

9

6%

8:10

16,057,700

19,804,640

35,862,340

16

4%

9:10

18,503,440

21,149,160

39,652,600

7

4%

108,931,860

189,012,540

297,944,400

83

31%

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Table (2): The first category is divided in subcategories. The seventh subcategory is distinguished by have the ration 9:10 of women to men. In this subcategory fell 7 countries with total users of 39,652,600 and 18,503,440 FaceBook users are women while 21,149,160 are men. This subcategory‟s population represents 4% of the total population and represents 13% of the first category. The countries are: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cape Verde, El Salvador, Italy, Luxembourg, Malaysia, and Tuvalu. The third category can be divided to sub-categories according to the study as shown in the table below. The third category included 26 countries with population of 289,951,600which represents 30% of the total population.

Figure (2): The first category division according to woman:man ratio. The first subcategory is distinguished by have the ration 1 1/9:1 of women to men. In this subcategory fell 5 countries (Dominica, Kiribati, Hong Kong, Finland, Ireland) with total users of 8,498,320 and 4,473,700 FaceBook users are women while 4,024,620 are men. This subcategory‟s population represents 1% of the total population and represents 3% of the first category. The second subcategory is distinguished by have the ration 1 1/8:1 of women to men. In this subcategory fell 3 countries (Uruguay, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela)with total users of 12,088,800and 6,415,240 FaceBook users are women while 5,673,560 are men. This subcategory‟s population represents 1% of the total population and represents 4% of the first category. The third subcategory is distinguished by have the ration 1 1/7:1 of women to men. In this subcategory fell 4 countries (Belarus, Australia, Saint Lucia, Canada) with total users of 30,452,840 and 16,254,660 FaceBook users are women while 14,198,180 are men. This subcategory‟s population represents 3% of the total population and represents 11% of the first category. The fourth subcategory is distinguished by have the ration 1 1/6:1 of women to men. In this subcategory fell 4 countries (Brazil, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, United States, Latvia) with total users of 232,897,640 and 125,678,820 FaceBook users are women while

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107,218,820 are men. This subcategory‟s population represents 24% of the total population and represents 80% of the first category. In the same token, the conducted research found that there is a weaker correlation between the GDP (PPP) and theFacebookfemale to male users‟ ratio. The PCC when calculated to both variables was closer to 0 rather than one. The PCC calculated was 0.3171759, which is reflected in the figure (4).

Countries Dominica, Kiribati, HongKong, Finland, Ireland Uruguay, TrinidadandTobago, Venezuela Belarus, Australia, SaintLucia, Canada Brazil, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, United States, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Barbados, New Zealand, Guyana Georgia, Moldova Samoa Tonga Total

Woman Number of Number of to man Total Women Men ratio

Number Percentage of of Countries category

1 1/9

4,473,700

4,024,620

8,498,320

5

1%

1 1/8

6,415,240

5,673,560

12,088,800

3

1%

1 1/7

16,254,660

14,198,180

30,452,840

4

3%

1 1/6

125,678,820 107,218,820 232,897,640 4

24%

1 1/5

2,614,440

2,184,200

4,798,640

6

1%

1 2/9 1 1/4 1 1/3

651,500 11,780 6,680 156,106,820

531,060 9,260 5,080 133,844,780

1,182,560 21,040 11,760 289,951,600

2 1 1 26

0.124% 0.002% 0.001% 30%

Table (3): The third category is divided in subcategories. The fifth subcategory is distinguished by have the ration 1 1/5:1 of women to men. In this subcategory fell 6 countries (Estonia, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Barbados, New Zealand, Guyana) with total users of 4,798,640 and 2,614,440 Facebook users are women while 2,184,200 are men. This subcategory‟s population represents 1% of the total population and represents 2% of the first category.

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Figure (3): Female Literacy Rate with Facebook female to male users‟ ratio. The sixth subcategory is distinguished by have the ration 1 2/9:1 of women to men. In this subcategory fell 2 countries (Georgia, Moldova) with total users of 1,182,560and 651,500 Facebook users are women while 531,060 are men. This subcategory‟s population represents 0.124% of the total population and represents 0.408% of the first category. The seventh subcategory is distinguished by have the ration 1 1/4:1 of women to men. In this subcategory fell 1 country (Samoa) with total users of 21,040 and 11,780 Facebook users are women while 9,260 are men. This subcategory‟s population represents 0.002% of the total population and represents 0.007% of the first category. The eighth subcategory is distinguished by have the ration 1 1/3:1 of women to men. In this subcategory fell 1 country (Tonga) with total users of 11,760 and 6,680 Facebook users are women while 5,080are men. This subcategory‟s population represents 0.001% of the total population and represents 0.004% of the first category. Female Literacy Rate & GDP (PPP) The research investigated whether there is a link between the female literacy rate and the Facebook female to male users‟ ratio. Figure 3 reflected a strong correlation between the two variables. In fact when measured using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, the PCC produced a value close to +1 which is 0.698889. The below figure 4, shows a weaker correlation between the two variable GDP (PPP) and women: men variable. Hence, numbers suggest that money does not affect the women: man ratio as much as Female literacy rate.

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Countries Affiliation with Continents Facebook Female To Male Users’ Ratio The paper addresses the impact of the continent where the country when investigating the ratio of Facebook female to male users. Starting with Asia, which was represented by 39 countries, and where the Number of users represented 31% of the paper sample. Asia‟s general ratio was 65:100, as such, for every 100 male users there is only 65 female Facebook users, as illustrated in table (4).

Figure (4): GDP (PPP) correlation with Facebook female to male users‟ ratio. It is worthwhile to note that the investigated Asian countries have disparity in the distribution. There are four countries with 3:10 ration namely: Bangladesh, Yemen,India and Mali with a total of 65,939,540 Facebook users and those countries represent 22.3% of the Asian Facebook users‟ population. Likewise, there are 8 countries with 4:10 ration namely: Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Nepal with a total of 19,583,300 Facebook users and those countries represent 6.62 % of the Asian Facebookusers‟population. In the same context, there are 4 countries with 5:10 ration namely SriLanka, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait with a total of 5,800,960 Facebook users and those countries represent 1.96 % of the Asian Facebook users population. While, there are 6 countries with 6:10 ration namely Turkey, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Uzbekistan, Cambodia, Maldives with a total of 33,845,360 Facebook users and those countries represent 11.44 % of the Asian Facebookusers‟population. Also, there are 3 countries with 7:10 ration namely China, Indonesia, Jordan with a total of 54,368,040 Facebook users and those countries represent 18.38 % of the Asian Facebook users population .

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Continent

Countr y Count

Asia Europe Latin America and the Caribbean N. America (USA & Canada) Africa Australia & New Zealand others Total

39 43 29

Women

Men

116,512,700 179,21 6,540 108,588,300 109,03 7,000 99,642,240 94,550, 560 2 100,682,300 85,934, 40 18,399,120 220 30,445, 100 2 7,456,640 6,474,4 40 7 19,5960 22,382 0 162 451,477,260 505,88 1,680 Table (4): Continent distribution and woman: man ratio.

Total

295,729,2 40 217,625,3 00 194,192,8 00 186,616,5 20 48,844,22 0 13,931,08 0 41,9780 957,358,9 40

Women Pop : Men ulati on % 0.65 31% 0.995 23% 1 20% 1 1/6 0.60 1 1/7 0.876

19% 5% 1.45 5% 0.04 3% 100 %

Additionally, there are 3 countries with 8:10 ratio namely:Laos, Vietnam, Lebanon with a total of 12,280,860 Facebook users and those countries represent 4.15 % of the Asian Facebook users population. Similarly, there are 9 countries with 1:1 ration namely Israel, Japan, Brunei, Taiwan, Singapore, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Thailand, Philippines with a total of 85,758,140 Facebook users and those countries represent 29 % of the Asian Facebook users population . Moreover, there are Malaysia,HongKong and Kazakhstan which represent 4.57%, 1.33% and 0.23% of the Asian Facebookusers‟ population respectively. Malaysia had 9:10 ratio, Hong Kong had 1 1/9 ratio andKazakhstan had 1 1/5 ratio. As for Europe, this was represented by 43 countries, noting that the number of users represented 23% of the current research sample. Europe‟s general ratio was 99.5:100 hence for every 100 Facebook male users there is only 99.5 female Facebook users, as can be seen in table (4). The same observation of discrepancy in the investigated European countries is reported. There are 11 countries with total populationof34,726,100 Facebook users which represent 16% of European Facebook users. Furthermore, there are 24 countries with 1:1 ration of woman: man. Those countries represent 80% of European Facebook users with 174,680,540 Facebook users. From Europe there are 8 countries where there are more woman Facebook users than men Facebook users with a total of 8,218,660 which represent 4% of the total Facebook users in Europe. Latin America and the Caribbean was represented by 29 countries with a total of Facebook users 194,192,800 which is 20% of the total study count of Facebook users. The woman: man ration is almost 1:1 where the number of women is more than men. As determined for other continents, the investigated countries in this continent have proved to have certain disproportion, in fact, 5 countries with a total of 15,720,040 which amounts to almost 8% of the population of Facebook users in those countries are with a ratio 0.6 to 0.9, whereas, the rest of the countries with population of 178,472,760 Facebook users which represents 92%, have a ratio above 1:1.

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Country

Country Total count users

Bangladesh, Yemen ,India and Mali Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Turkmenistan, SaudiArabia, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Nepal, SriLanka, UnitedArabEmirates, Kuwait, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Uzbekistan, Cambodia, Maldives. China, Indonesia, Jordan. Laos, Vietnam, Lebanon. Malaysia Israel, Japan, Brunei, Taiwan, Singapore, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Thailand, Philippines. HongKong Kazakhstan Total

4

Facebook Percentage from Woman Asia face book man users 65,939,540 22.30% 3:10

8

19,583,300

6.62%

4:10

3

5,800,960

1.96%

5:10

6

33,845,360

11.44%

6:10

3

54,368,040

18.38%

7:10

3

12,280,860

4.15%

8:10

1 9

13,514,740 85,758,140

4.57% 29.00%

0.9 1:1

1 1 39

3,946,920 691,380 295,729,240

1.33% 0.23%

1 1/9 1 1/5

:

Table (5): Asian countries woman: man ratio and representation. U.S.A and Canada represented 19% of the population of the study with 1 1/6:1 ratio and a total of 186,616,520. Furthermore, Africa was represented with 40 countries with a total of 48,844,220 Facebook users, only represented 5% of the study population. The woman: manis 6:10. There are 35 countries with a ratio less than 1:1 while the other 5 countries namely: Namibia, Lesotho, SouthAfrica, Guyana and Tonga had a ratio of 1:1 and above. The total of the last 5 countries is 6,874,840 which represent 14% of the total Facebook users in Africa. Moving along to Australia and New Zealand both represented 1.455% of the study population and have 1 1/7:1 woman to man ratio. The other 7 countries only represented 0.043% of the population had 87:100 woman to man ratio.

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Countries Albania, Macedonia, Swaziland, Greece, SanMarino, Cyprus, Montenegro, Serbia, Bosniaand Herzegovina, Italy, Luxembourg. Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia, Belgium, Portugal, Romania, Norway, Iceland, Ukraine, Spain, CzechRepublic, Sweden, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Russia, UnitedKingdom, Bulgaria, Poland,Slovakia, Hungary. Finland, Ireland, Belarus, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Georgia, Moldova. Total Table (6): Europe details.

Country count

Total Facebook users

Percentage fromEurope

11

34,726,100

16%

24

174,680,540 80%

8

8,218,660

43

217,625,300 100%

4%

Interesting Notes and Findings After going through all hops for this research, a significant finding is that albeitGDP (PPP) and female literacy rate have direct correlation with the Facebook female to male users‟ ratio, however, there are still some hidden factors that are yet to be discovered. Nadkarn& Hofmann (2012) stated “Demographic and cultural factors contribute to the need to belong, whereas neuroticism, narcissism, shyness, self-esteem and self-worth contribute to the need for self-presentation”, also (Lamp et al, 2014) stated that another factor is helpseeking behaviors also(Morris et al, 2011) mention “social norms and the expectations”, in addition, (Hampton et al, 2011) “Mobile phone and Internet use”. For example, Saudi Arabia and Qatar share the same ration (4:10) with Pakistan and Tajikistan. Both Saudi and Qatar have 24,411 and 98948 GDP (PPP) respectively and both have 81% and 95% female literacy rates. While with Pakistan and Tajikistan have 2,786 and 1,249 GDP (PPP) and 45% and 57% female literacy rate respectively. Again the same scenario plays out with Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait all three countries have same ratio (5:10) seen in table 5. While Sri Lanka has 90%female literacy rate and 5,664 GDP (PPP), United Arab Emirates has 81%female literacy rate and 47,729 GDP (PPP) and Kuwait has 97%female literacy rate and 41,701 GDP (PPP). Another interesting fact is Geographical area, particularly when considering the reason a country with the size of Jordan, Tunisia and China ended up in the same category of ratios (7:10). While China GDP (PPP) is 8,387 and the female literacy rate is 92%, Jordan and Tunisia GDP (PPP) are 5,907 and 9,389 respectively and their female literacy rate is 90% and 65%.Namibia whose GDP(PPP) is 7,451and the female literacy rate is 88% ended up in the same ratio category (1:1) with Switzerland, Japan, Germany, Brunei, Austria whose GDP(PPP) is almost quintuple Namibia‟s GDP(PPP).Another interesting fact is that Guyana, Georgia, Moldova, Samoa, Tonga have a higher ratio woman: man than countries who are “more developed regions” (UN,2014) by the definition of the UN likeAustralia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, United States of America.

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Conclusion This research tried to discover the ratio of woman: man ratio taking into account country, continent, GDP (PPP) and female literacy rate. First the paper analyzes the ratio of women to men in 162 countries with a total of 957,358,940 users, of whom 451,477,260 are women. Hence, women represent only 47% of the Facebook users. Subsequently, the paper goes on to discuss the different dimensions of women to man ratios. Furthermore, the paper argues the effect of literacy and how the ratio of women to men using Facebook correlates with literacy of women. Next, the paper discusses the effect of GDP (PPP) and how the GDP (PPP) associates with the ratio of woman to man using Facebook. According to this research, the 162 countries fall into three categories: first, fewer women than men use Facebook (83 countries). Second, almost equal number of women and men use Facebook (53 countries). Third, more women use Facebook than men (26 countries). On a different dimension, the paper addresses the impact of the continent where the country is located, and if this factor has an effect on the ratio of Facebook female to male users. In this context, the paper will attempt to determine whether there is uniformity or discrepancy among the countries of each continent, starting with Asia which was represented by 39 countries, Europe, which was represented with 43 countries, then Latin America and the Caribbean was represented by 29 countries, and concluding with U.S.A and Canada that represented 19% of the population of the study.

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