Female Readership: Why It's So Low, and How Can We Change That?
by Derek Wilson on September 2, 2008 3:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Dell
You know what? We are severely lacking in female perspective here at AnandTech.
Yes we do have some female readers. But we don't have as many as we would like, and no we do not believe the stuff we talk about here is inherently gender biased. While we do provide information that we believe is as accurate and informative as we can, perhaps there is a reason we don't have as many women who are regulars here.
Women are a big part of computing from the ground up. And we aren't just talking about today: look all the way back to the beginning of computational logic and the invention of the transistor and you will find women integral in evolution of all the technology we talk about here. There is no fundamental reason women shouldn't be interested in our articles as both women and men are interested in: getting the most value out of their purchases, living a full and fulfilled life by taking advantage of technology, and understanding why they should care about technology and the issues surrounding it in today's world.
So why is it that our readership is so hugely male?
I utterly reject the idea that women can't understand the material we cover. I happen to know women who are much more intelligent than myself and could either design hardware or code circles around me. While my pride and ego could still probably use a little adjustment, I'm not so diluted as to believe that gender, race or any other broad genetic stoke makes it so that people just can't understand technology or computing.
Again, if it isn't a question of applicability or capability, then why don't more women read our articles?
I think there are a few factors at work: our reliance on a broad knowledge base as a prerequisite to understanding our articles, societal pressures and preconditioning, and the presentation of the material.
Despite the fact that there is no inherent difference that makes women less able to know the math and science behind the hardware we talk about, it is a fact that fewer women currently have the background required to gain any useful information from some of our more technical articles. I'm going to go ahead and point a finger at our failing effort at education in this country and put a good amount of burden there. Partly because I think it's absolutely true and partly because I'm human and tend toward shifting some of the blame away from myself where possible :-)
While we do try to use analogies, metaphors and other tools to relate complicated subject matter in an understandable way, we just can't go back to the beginning for every article and explain everything from the ground up. That would make every article like 2000% longer and would be incredibly boring to our core audience of people who already know many of the basics.
I am looking into trying to write a series of introductions to topics like 3D graphics, CPU architecture, etc. so that we have references we can point people back to and to provide more people with easy access to the information that will help keep their eyes from glazing over when they read our latest GPU architecture article. I'm not sure how much interest there is in this right now, so let me know if you think this is a good or bad idea. It takes a lot of work to put together primers like this, especially if I want to do them well and in as accessible a manner as possible.
Beyond education, we have to look at our culture and society. I'm not a big fan of group identity in any form, but whether we like it or not our culture does play a role in who we are. I'd say that culture has a much larger impact than many genetic properties because it is our society that takes these properties and starts turning them into things they are not.
That doesn't mean that we aren't different and that genetics don't play a role in how we think, how we behave, and who we are. Genetics and environment both have parts to play, but misunderstanding things and then amplifying those misunderstandings causes huge problems.
Some of the reason more women may not be involved in our field is cultural. Like it or not, some places in our country still push men and women in to different roles regardless of the individual's talents and desires. But it goes beyond that. It is a self feeding cycle. Fewer women than men are in technology, and because of this fewer women than might other wise try aren't interested in exploring the field.
Additionally, when we combine this issue with education, it gets even worse. While there is no difference in the potential mental capability of men and women, genetics does seem to play a role in the way people best learn things (even if we don't completely understand that role). Our educational system does not do a good job at all of offering different teaching styles to people who learn in different ways. For whatever reason, math and sciences tend to be taught in ways that are more accessible to men than women. When this causes women to perform less well in general or be less interested in pursuing certain subjects, it tends to be taken out of context in our culture to mean that women aren't as able as men in this area. Which is ridiculous.
It all comes down to our last point: presentation. We need to do a better job of reaching women by refining our approach to presenting the material. Just like in schools, we need to recognize that our audience should not be people who already sort of get what we are talking about but everyone who could potentially want to understand the point of what we are saying. We need to start exploring alternate structures for our articles and alternate types of tests and demonstrations to show the things that we already know both men and women want.
We need to do a better job of showing where the value is in technology and not just that something is a better value than something else, but whether that increase in value is worth the money. We must demonstrate the impact technology can have on people of all interests (rather than just a highly framerate sensitive gamer audience). We have got to help everyone understand why they should care about technology and all the societal and political issues that surround it, because cultivating a desire for knowledge by showing a personal impact is a huge part of what motivates people to learn more about any given subject.
That last bit is key: we need to reach out and show people how much better their lives can be when computers and technology are properly used in order to get them interested in better understanding the current and future capabilities of hardware and technology.
Luckily this is also a sort of differential equation: the more people we get interested in technology, the more people will want to understand it. The more people understand technology, the more they'll be able to gain from reading our articles. And this will hopefully be good for everyone.
But ... I'm not a woman, and we don't have any on staff. Of course, we all know women. We need to start reaching out more and trying to figure out what they want to know about and how we can relate technology and hardware architecture back to that. How do they desire technology to impact their lives. How do we integrate that into what we write about at AnandTech.
So we've identified a problem. Sometimes this is the hardest part (and some times it is not). We know that we need to reach out in different ways to present our articles as relevant not only to women, but to all people with varied interest. But we need to know how.
And we would love your feedback. We need input. We need input from everyone, not just women (though I would love to see a lot of women respond). While it is easy to see the statistics with women, we really want to reach everyone. We need to show everyone why computers and technology are more important than just as ego boosters for people who build the biggest baddest and fastest machine.
The current state and the future of technology will have a huge impact on every life on this planet. The lifestyle and activities the hardware we write about enable are universally engaging. Getting people excited about that and making the science behind the technology interesting and accessible to everyone is where we want to go.
And the best place to go for understanding is to the source. Let us know what helps you learn. Should we add more visuals, audio or other media? Do we need to approach things in ways that aren't just top-down? What kinds of analogies and metaphors really help understanding? What does interest you about technology? What needs to be made easier in your life?
Answers to these questions will go a long way to helping us address the issues we know we have in reaching out to people who could and would be interested in computer hardware but haven't yet had the interest or the tools to start learning about it. We're listening, let us know what you think.
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tyanlion - Tuesday, September 2, 2008 - link
Dude first u have literally no idea on the gender composition of the people who read this .Second as one guy said here this was primarly a gaming site in the beginning. By specifically targeting a more female audience u might alientate your viewership base who come here to read the intelligent articles u write about hardware, don't make the mistake of thinking of making more articles to cater to a larger audience because there are downsides to it to like wasting time on creating those articles and not covering your normal stuff.
Third, times are changing girls are getting into gaming, so i suspect in 5-10 years time female viewership will naturally increase as well. don't be impatient.
Fourth, don't create problems when there isn't, the articles here are genearlly gender neutral. you have never wrote anything with for just the male geek. there is no reason why female viewers shouldn't come here. maybe its not anything wrong with anandtech but currently society doesn't have the demographic that supports what u want.(basically don't think there is a problem when there is none) If a person has no interest in computing stuff u will never be able to pull them in no matter how well your articles are.
What u guys could do however is beef up some of your existing articles. I don't see enough linux and mac articles which i personally want to see more of .
And u guys could have something like what tom's hardware guide has the cpu and harddisk charts those are something that are lacking in this site. If u want to attract more people just go and do some historical articles on how some computing technologies evolved so it would be better. btw u guys don't even do vidz like tom's or extremetech another area to improve on(btw if u look at the internet the trend is increasing, you guys need to upgrade). articles are also very poorly integrated with one another. Basically what i am saying is before u venture into new territory make sure u are ready , there are still a ton of things u could do here to improve readership without speicifcally going for the female audience.
Rav3n - Tuesday, September 2, 2008 - link
How many female writers write for AT? How much direct female influence do you have in directing the future of the publication (wives and girl friends are not direct)?Why bend and distort your core competency to attract a different reader, when you can bring on a few talented writers (or editors!) who are going to bring with them different perspective? Branch out, don't cave in.
Now you're supposed to ask, "Well, where does one find female writers who are talented and want to write for AT?" I'm glad you asked. Ads (not on your site, they won't attract women), writing competitions, organizations that encourage girl friends of nerds to do X are a good start. Maybe start a column? A small series?
cparka23 - Tuesday, September 2, 2008 - link
I think it's great that you at least pay attention to the reader demographics to broaden your readership base. Best way to do that is to ask, which you have done; I applaud.That being said, I agree with some of the comments already posted and add my own twist. The question is not "What should I do to expand the numbers among the female audience?" The reason, as well-stated by others, is to avoid overreaching the bounds of what Anandtech has become to its loyal readers. Blog posts about building Anand's home theater are fine as long as they remain as blogs w/ a personal quality to them, but regular coverage of some topics is sure to drive away some of your current readers. Consumer electronics (i.e. DSLRs) are great as long as the focus remains technical. Once you overreach into style over substance, I'll drop you faster than I dropped CNET. DON'T ASPIRE TO BE ANOTHER CNET.
So then I suppose the question becomes "Are we doing something to ostracize women?" Without sounding too preachy, today's social climate simply shapes a greater proportion of males to be more tech-oriented. Personally, I believe the inroads made by today's women will have a terrific impact on the next generation of women, but it'll be another 10+ years before you can state that there is no gender bias in IT, computing, gaming, or engineering -- let alone all of them. That day will come, though.
In the meantime, I wish you'd go back to the roots of this site -- reviews, display tests, guides -- and maybe start a series covering the nuts and bolts basics of overclock hardware tuning.
ggordonliddy - Tuesday, September 2, 2008 - link
Life is like a box of chocolates...(No, that does not make sense.)
Finally - Tuesday, September 2, 2008 - link
It does!One (very) common marketing technique goes like this:
If you have a boring standard normal product and want to do a "special edition" only for women, the - I wish I was kidding - official marketing slogan is: "Shrink it and pink it"
Just look around the capitalistic world. It's true.
0roo0roo - Tuesday, September 2, 2008 - link
face it, knowing about the fastest gpu and what all the new marketing terms and features are is not important to most peoples lives. guys do it because it fuels an obsession with technological power, and lets them game. people are free to do what they want, if they dont enjoy obsessing over games or computer hardware so be it. its just a hobby. This stuff is mostly technical minutia. dont make it more than it is. always the questions with why women aren't in IT more, or why they dont play as many games(ignore fake statistics that include solitaire). always the assumption that the sexes have the same interests and that women dont share mens means theres something wrong. men don't share many female interests as well.trying to make something universal that appeals to a niche audience will only dillute your mission and ruin the content for your core audience and won't appeal to the female audience anyways. you will just be shooting yourself in the foot for nothing.
as you've said, you are all men on staff. you've gravitated to this by your own accord. no one forced you into this field by dumbing it down and force feeding it to you like it was some horrible medicine that was "good for you". you liked it, and ran with it. thats all there is to it.
oh no...knowing what penyrn is or how X gpu is better than Y is not going to make most lives better. there is a illusion of over importance going on in this article. investment for retirement advice would be universal and important to life. health care, schools etc. gpu's are not anywhere in the same class of importance. it is a hobby.
read the blank slate by steven pinker.
people are not the same.
Verve - Tuesday, September 2, 2008 - link
As a female reader, what is the reason for wanting more female readers? I'm one of the geekiest female going and yes, I do spend time reading the gossip columns as well as keep tabs on the tech industry. I do not work in a tech-related field. This is just one of my personal interests.IMHO, the short answer on why no women readers: because we do other things. Notice that I spend time reading gossip columns. I also have a life. And, to be brutally honest, your articles are very technical and can be a bit long-winded. Are they good? It depends on who you want as your audience. I look at your site when I need to look for new things for gaming computers. Am I interested in clock multipliers, etc.? Not really. I just need your summary of why that part (motherboard, RAM, graphics card, CPU etc.) is the best there is on the market at the moment.
However, from what I understand, your audience are people who really want to know the nitty-gritty details of how you put each piece of equipment through its paces, then you should continue to do what you are doing.
I'm not going to touch the socialization theories that are being floated -- if that was true, then why am I even reading this site?
fishbits - Tuesday, September 2, 2008 - link
"I'm going to go ahead and point a finger at our failing effort at education in this country and put a good amount of burden there." You're joking, right? What country are you talking about where the females aren't just as welcome to take any class they desire? I'd assumed an American perspective, but perhaps you're writing on behalf of Yemen?As RMSe17 said, why worry about it? While I'm sure there are gearhead sites that would welcome more readers, I don't think they lose sleep at night that the ratio of people reading about do-it-yourself timing chain replacement is mostly men.
Ditch the over-analysis and handwringing. Women and men are, and hopefully always will be, different. Doesn't mean they can't share the same interests, but the rate at which they do doesn't have to be the same. Meanwhile, I might enjoy picking out clothing or furnishings for their aesthetics, without getting deep into it as women are more apt to be.
But overanalysis is going to be the shortcoming, and and honestly, you're the last person here for this particular task. Male gamer techie nerds have begged you, Derek, to take a chill pill on describing the intricacies of the smelting process for making the metal for making the freaking mounting bracket of a new video card. Yet, undaunted, you go on for page after page of such trivia knowing full well most of your readers are more intested in price and performance.
You've knowingly thrown out suggestions for how to improve articles and reviews when it conflicts with a chance to "show you that I know stuff!!!!1" To cater to the audience you're asking about, you'd have to go even further in a direction you've been unwilling to move an inch on for years. How realistic is that?
Women (generalizing here) love tech. To USE. To be a black box to do what they want to do. To communicate, to create, etc. They don't love spending gobs of time digging into WHY it works for their own amusement, or to pass the time of day. Same as they love cars as transportation, not for engineering principles and maintainence hobbies.
If, for instance, you were willing to write a video card review and a SEPERATE article on the depths of the architecture, acknowledging that some people might not want to read blathering for four pages about every nook of the pixel pipeline, you'd be able to show the ability to connnect with your readers wants, instead of forcing them to wade through what you want to get to their interests. There's a reason girls don't typically flock to the "Excuse me, technically, the peanut is a legume" guy in school. If you're not happy with who the site appeals to, the change will have to go deeper than coughing up some "pink" primers.
v12v12 - Wednesday, September 3, 2008 - link
WOW! A HOMERUN - GRANDSLAM OUT OF THE PARK!... When I 1st read your rant about this dude, I was like "man wtf this guy needs to chill and stay on topic...” then it HIT ME like my aforementioned opening line: This guy is writing to impress himself... he likes to show his "intelligence," through his articles, THEN probably rereads them, nodding at how intricate his articles are — Lol a true narcissist indeed.Off Topic: Yes I do agree that a lot of the articles are waaay too in depth in analysis and specificity. Take the Nehalem article for example, very nice to know how L2 and L3 hierarchical-architecture ascend, tidbits about netburst and Quick path (etc...) work, but — eventually I found myself losing interest and wondering rather impatiently "WTF are the SPECS and performance numbers and comparisons going to come into light?!" Yes I like knowing those very in depth intricacies, BUT not when they add more filler to the meat of the argument. CUT the fat out and stick with the lean meat. Fat should be sparingly placed on the side IMO.
But alas here we are: another reader complaining about the direction of a site, and the editors viewing the readers as uninformed, naive or plain, dullard sheep that cannot truly appreciate the effort and preciseness of their "work." Blah blah go toot your own horns at home.
WE make up the revenue you get from advertising by OUR viewer ship. If you want to paint a brilliant masterpiece of an article, great do it on YOUR OWN TIME and not at our reading expense? What's so hard about understanding that? You work for US, not the other way around. If WE leave... you cease to have funding... WE, on the other hand, can find someone else who WILL pander/cater to what WE care about. Does my adding to this rant make any real diff? Probably not... BUT it's just a friendly reminder / critical critique of the direction you ought to be taking. Not a shove, but a nudge... please take heed and don't drown from basking in your own reflection...
saiku - Tuesday, September 2, 2008 - link
Well said. All the women I know (many in tech) really don't care about HOW / WHY something works. Anandtech is for hardware - breadth AND depth. The good articles (buyers' guides/ monitor roundups etc.) are languishing while we see stuff like the bargain bin games roundup today. Anandtech 2008 feels like its going the way of CNN Headline News. I really don't want that to happen to my favorite hardware site.And please please stop the barrage of PSU reviews.