The Role of Social Media as a Gender Socialization Agent for Cisgender College Students

Abstract

This research project looks at components of gender socialization for cisgender college students. Expanding on pre-existing research, I consider traditional agents of socialization and argue that social media should be newly considered as a primary agent of socialization. To do this, I interviewed 12 cisgender college students (aged 19-23). The traditional routes of socialization and social media were both found to be important gender socialization factors. Interestingly, social media was found to have two contradicting functions. It served to counter traditional ideas of gender through its role providing education and exposure to diverse identities. At the same time, though, participants also reported normative ideas on the types of posts that different genders were expected to publish, feeling pressure to meet these standards. As social media only continues to become more pervasive, this provides an important avenue for research on the role that it has played in a population that has been on these websites for nearly a decade.