Why is atlas so male?

[Bidenworth2020]

?

[YE]

Most of the internet is.

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

Most politics stuff is.

[morgankingsley]

Most of the internet is.

[Lourdes]

Most of the internet is.

[darklordoftech]

Most of the internet is.

[Virginiá]

It's not the internet:

http://www.pewinternet.org/2018/03/01/social-media-use-2018-appendix-a-detailed-table/

Women use social media more than men (overall).

The disparity comes from internet forums, and more so niche forums, such as those centered around things like politics and certain kinds of gaming. There are other topics that have male disparities too. I remember stumbling onto an GoT forum that seemed like it was 2/3 women at least.

[HillGoose]

It's not the internet:

http://www.pewinternet.org/2018/03/01/social-media-use-2018-appendix-a-detailed-table/

Women use social media more than men (overall).

The disparity comes from internet forums, and more so niche forums, such as those centered around things like politics and certain kinds of gaming. There are other topics that have male disparities too. I remember stumbling onto an GoT forum that seemed like it was 2/3 women at least.

Yeah I've been on several forums that were 2/3rds or more women. I think women are less likely to become involved in political forums overall.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Men like beer, farts, hot tubs, and politics and Atlas offers all of those.

[President Johnson]

I have a feeling most somewhat scientific things on the internet are. Wikipedia has the same "problem". Most women prefer more real world stuff, especially when they are highly educated.

[dead0man]

Because men and women are different.  They enjoy different things.  What they do for a living is different, what they do for fun is different.

[Former President tack50]

The internet: Where women are men, men are children and children are FBI agents

Also, not sure how relevant this is, but Atlas actually has a large amount of women in my experience (relatively speaking). I remember a survey in reddit for /r/europe where it turned out that 95% of users were men.

[Goldwater]

Also, not sure how relevant this is, but Atlas actually has a large amount of women in my experience (relatively speaking). I remember a survey in reddit for /r/europe where it turned out that 95% of users were men.

TBH, I think there was a point in time where Atlas was 95% male. For whatever reason, the gender gap has seemed to have narrowed a bit in the past few

[Meclazine for Israel]

My girlfriend would never join a forum.

My only other forum is online simulator racing, and that is 35,000 men and 3 women.

If you look at the Papoy thread on this forum, half the photos are female.

[Mr. Morden]

Yes, politics forums tend to be more male than female, but not all politics forums are as male as this one.  There was another thread on this years ago that I can't find now, and I think it was Beet who made a good point there about how the Atlas forum is unusually isolated in cyberspace, and not tied to any particular personality or blog or whatever.  It's just something that you stumble across if you're looking for election results.  The hypothesis was that it being so isolated might result in the demographics here being different than they would be on another politics forum.

[Bidenworth2020]

Yes, politics forums tend to be more male than female, but not all politics forums are as male as this one.  There was another thread on this years ago that I can't find now, and I think it was Beet who made a good point there about how the Atlas forum is unusually isolated in cyberspace, and not tied to any particular personality or blog or whatever.  It's just something that you stumble across if you're looking for election results.  The hypothesis was that it being so isolated might result in the demographics here being different than they would be on another politics forum.

OK, but why would the isolation, in turn, make the forum more male.

[President Johnson]

Yes, politics forums tend to be more male than female, but not all politics forums are as male as this one.  There was another thread on this years ago that I can't find now, and I think it was Beet who made a good point there about how the Atlas forum is unusually isolated in cyberspace, and not tied to any particular personality or blog or whatever.  It's just something that you stumble across if you're looking for election results.  The hypothesis was that it being so isolated might result in the demographics here being different than they would be on another politics forum.

OK, but why would the isolation, in turn, make the forum more male.

Well, Wikipedia isn't isolated from cyberspace (among the top-ten visited websites), but about 85% of writers are men. Women use the internet to connect with people and men tend to write or discuss about specific issues they are interested in (politics, science, architecture etc.).

[Fuzzy Bear]

Yes, politics forums tend to be more male than female, but not all politics forums are as male as this one.  There was another thread on this years ago that I can't find now, and I think it was Beet who made a good point there about how the Atlas forum is unusually isolated in cyberspace, and not tied to any particular personality or blog or whatever.  It's just something that you stumble across if you're looking for election results.  The hypothesis was that it being so isolated might result in the demographics here being different than they would be on another politics forum.

OK, but why would the isolation, in turn, make the forum more male.

Well, Wikipedia isn't isolated from cyberspace (among the top-ten visited websites), but about 85% of writers are men. Women use the internet to connect with people and men tend to write or discuss about specific issues they are interested in (politics, science, architecture etc.).

My wife's Facebook page is all about kids, grandkids, family, etc.  Mine is all about religion and politics, with some sports.

[The Dowager Mod]

When I first registered in 2004 there were already 3 women here, 2 of them used gender neutral names and never publicly disclosed their gender, I was stupid enough to put it right in my name  , All 3 are long gone now.

[Mr. Morden]

Yes, politics forums tend to be more male than female, but not all politics forums are as male as this one.  There was another thread on this years ago that I can't find now, and I think it was Beet who made a good point there about how the Atlas forum is unusually isolated in cyberspace, and not tied to any particular personality or blog or whatever.  It's just something that you stumble across if you're looking for election results.  The hypothesis was that it being so isolated might result in the demographics here being different than they would be on another politics forum.

Ah, I found the thread:

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=115102.0

And here's the Beet post I was thinking of:

Well, places usually grow by word of mouth or by advertising. In first person shooter forums for example, the advertising is the game, which men and women both see in stores, and is played by so many men that some women are bound to come into contact with it, try it, and like it enough to post in a forum. With other political sites that I go to, they tend to be well known, or the people in them started out drawn together as a group in real life that expanded into a online group, kind of like phknrocket1k was saying. Groups in real life tend to be mixed gender, so when translated online, it became that way as well.

This site is a place where you aren't going to find it unless you go searching. We're not tied to any particular famous events or personalities. Dave doesn't have a blog that attracts many links or hits to this site. We get a traffic surge around election day just for people looking for information, IIRC, but it mostly hangs beneath the surface. People have made friends here but it's relatively rare for existing members to bring in their friends or family. Statesrights is one of the exceptions and the result that was one of our few female members.

In other words, this site is designed very much as a social networking island. It's unusually disconnected. I'm not sure that answers the OP's question but I think it has something to do with it.

[Virginiá]

I wouldn't be surprised if the # of women who read the forum and maybe even registered once but don't post is higher than the # that has posted. Also there are probably some incognito women who have not put anything hinting at which they are in their profile and haven't gendered themselves in any posts. I'm not much of a forum user outside Atlas but I've registered on other places to get help, see certain content or other stuff and I usually don't put any identifying information. Guys can get weird when you do that on the internet.

[Holy Unifying Centrist]

Most of the internet is.

this is so completely false and it makes me sad to see so many people think this

[Bidenworth2020]

I wouldn't be surprised if the # of women who read the forum and maybe even registered once but don't post is higher than the # that has posted. Also there are probably some incognito women who have not put anything hinting at which they are in their profile and haven't gendered themselves in any posts. I'm not much of a forum user outside Atlas but I've registered on other places to get help, see certain content or other stuff and I usually don't put any identifying information. Guys can get weird when you do that on the internet.

But you don't have the same problems with guys on Atlas?

[Virginiá]

But you don't have the same problems with guys on Atlas?

not really

not the same everywhere else though in my experiences

[Bidenworth2020]

But you don't have the same problems with guys on Atlas?

not really

not the same everywhere else though in my experiences

Interesting, I guess the "nerdiness" of the forum means there is less opportunity for those situations to arise.