Making Youtube and Facebook Videos: Gender Differences in Online Video Creation Among First-Year Undergraduate Students Attending a Highly Selective Research University

Online video creation for YouTube and Facebook is a newly popular activity for college students. Women have explored social networking technologies at about the same level as men, but have expressed less interest in computer programming and multimedia design. Online video creation includes aspects of both social networking and programming / multimedia design and provides an interesting forum for examining gender-related differences. This mixed methods study uses questionnaire data from 31% of the population of first year students attending a highly selective research university. The study explores how online video creation varies by gender after incorporating theoretical concepts of confidence, self-efficacy, attitudes toward computers, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, social influence and demographic variables such as socioeconomic status, ethnicity, immigrant status and high school size. The theories of self-efficacy (Bandura), stereotype threat (Steele) and learned helplessness (Abramson) and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) inform the conceptual framework. Using descriptive and multivariate regression analyses as well as qualitative inquiry, the study finds significant gender differences in creation of online videos and roles played with video editing. Men report more participation in video creation and editing, as well as more participation in creating videos for required school projects, a notable finding for policy and practice. Attitudes toward computers and TAM explain observed gender differences. The Mac computer platform is associated with greater likelihood of video creation. Study results inform academic support interventions to promote media literacy, computer confidence and consistent perceptions of ease of use of video technologies for all students.