Gender Differences in the Use of Social Media: Australian Postgraduate Students’ Evidence

Abstract

This study investigates the differences between male and female usage of social media in Australia. The sample consists of ten postgraduate students at the Queensland University of Technology who use social media platforms, including six males and four females.Nine themes and 41 codes are identified. This study analyses five major themes, namely, personal life, professional life, sharing, leaders or followers, and competition. Six participants consider themselves as either leaders or followers in their social media usage, making this theme the most acknowledged theme. However, three participants use social media for their personal lives, and social media challenge three participants. Therefore, personal life and competition are the least important cause of social media usage. This study contributes by shedding some light on social media usage among postgraduate students. It helps universities to choose among different social media platforms for their educational purposes for their postgraduate students.