Men savvier online than women

David Swan
Friday, 24 June 2011 15:46

Business IT - Networking

The battle of the sexes may have raged for centuries but is now over, at least when it comes to online networking.

 

LinkedIn has opened up a can of worms with a new study, deeming men to be savvier online networkers than women.

LinkedIn recently looked at the details of professionals across varying industries and locations and has decided that both globally and in Australia, men tend to be savvier online networkers than women.

While globally, LinkedIn revealed a trend of men being savvier online networkers in some traditionally female dominated industries, and with the reverse being true, this was not the case in Australia where both males and females were savvy online networkers in industries where they traditionally dominate.

The top Australian industries where women are savvier online professional networkers:

* Alternative dispute resolution 
* Writing and editing
* Philanthropy
* Marketing & advertising

And top Australian industries where men are savvier online professional networkers:

·         Military
·         Capital markets
·         Human resources
·         Newspapers

Career coach and blogger Sally-Anne Blanshard told iTWire that it was hard to point to specific reasons as to why those particular industries had savvy male and female online networkers, but said that online networking could be beneficial no matter what industry or gender.

"I encourage all my clients to jump on board," she said.

"It's like working a room, you can either walk around and mingle or you can sit in the corner by yourself and not engage with anyone."

'Networking experiences can actually be quite different for men and women - even at the same event, within the same organisation, or in the same industry or community', said Cliff Rosenberg, LinkedIn's managing director in Australia and New Zealand.

'Some professionals may find networking in person to be tedious or intimidating and any such barriers can be removed in an online environment. LinkedIn provides the best platform and tools to cultivate their networking skills and build strong professional connections'.

As well as reviewing the savviest networkers by industry, LinkedIn also took a look at some of the largest companies in Australia, looking at 50 Australian companies from BRW's top 1000 list.

Organisations found to have savvier female online professional networkers:

·         RailCorp
·         Origin Energy
·         Leighton Contractors

Organisations found to have savvier male online professional networkers:

·         Queensland Health
·         Flight Centre
·         The University of New South Wales

More information on LinkedIn's role in the workplace and its importance can be found on Sally-Ann's blog.