A new Pew Research Center survey has found that online gaming is the least welcoming internet environment for women.
The survey looked at some 3,000 internet users, both men and women, and concluded that 44 percent of the people polled found that online gaming is more welcoming towards men rather than women. Only a tiny three percent of the survey takers thought the gaming community was more welcoming towards women, with the remaining 51 percent believing the gaming community is equally welcoming.
Even though online gaming is clearly not a great place for women, the survey actually found that social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, more frequently subject women to online harassment. That’s not much of a surprise, however, as social media platforms have a much larger and much more diverse group of users than can be found in the gaming community.
The survey also found that women are subjected to harsher forms of online harassment than men. Although the survey noted that more men are “called offensive names” and “purposefully embarrassed,” women are both “sexually harassed” and “stalked” more.
What do you think about this survey? Do you also believe the online gaming community is hostile towards women?
[Source: Pew Research Center via GamesIndustry.biz]
Pew Research Center - Is Online Gaming Welcoming for Women?
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How welcoming are online "neighborhoods" to men and women?
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Men and women experience different varieties of online harassment
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Young women experience particularly severe forms of harassment
