Abstract:Microblog has been constantly in the spotlight due to its convenience to post and easiness to focus others. But most of the studies at home focused on the microblog in terms of its origin, functions, application, maintenance and influence. Few research payed attention to the relationship between gender and the user’s language from the linguistic point of view. This thesis collected samples from 106 college students in Hangzhou to reveal gender differences from five aspects including disclosure of personal information, topic selection, the use of specific groups of words, the use of emoticons and the length of each microblog. Data analysis displays that there is no distinct relationship between disclosure of personal information and the genders but gender differences do exist in topic selection, the use of specific groups of words, the use of emoticons and the length of microblogs. The findings show that the theories of language and gender in western countries can also apply to Chinese counterparts. These gender differences contribute to better understanding of mode of thinking and behaviors between genders.

Keywords: gender differences; Chinese language use; Sina microblogs; college students in Hangzhou

Contents

摘要

Abstract

1.-Introduction-1

1.1.-The motivation of the study-1

1.2.-The general description of the study-1

1.3.-The outline of the thesis-2

2.-Previous study-3

2.1.-Study at abroad-3

2.1.1.Main frameworks on gender differences-3

2.1.2.Study on blogosphere-4

2.2.-Study at home-5

2.2.1.Study on linguistic gender-5

2.2.2.Study on blogosphere-6

3.-Research hypotheses-8

4.-Data analysis-9

4.1.-The disclosure of personal information-9

4.2.-Topic selection-10

4.3.-The use of emoticon-11

4.4.-Language use-12

4.4.1.The use of intensifiers-12

4.4.2.The use of auxiliary words that indicate mood-12

4.4.3.The use of online buzzwords-13

4.5.-The length of microblog-14

5.-Causes of gender differences-15

5.1.-Psychological causes-15

5.2.-Social and Cultural causes-15

6.-Discussion and conclusion-17

Reference-18