Talking takes too long : gender and cultural patterns in mobile telephony

The sociolinguistic literature has frequently reported differences in how males and females communicate face-to-face and in writing, and more recently, through information and communication technologies. This article reports on gender patterns identified in a cross- cultural study of mobile phone use by university students in Sweden, the US, Italy, Japan and Korea. Data were analyzed with respect to the purpose of communication, politeness issues, social manipulation and volume of use (along with user complaints about dependency and reachability). Results indicated a number of gendered usage and attitudinal patterns. However, in some cases, cultural variables may prove more explanatory than gender.