Often times when women post comments and feelings about sexism online, they’re seen as angry feminists and some are even subject to online abuse. But a new study published in the British Journal of Social Psychology, suggests that tweeting about sexism may be beneficial and improve a woman’s wellbeing.

The study, conducted by Dr Mindi Foster of the Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada, asked 93 of its female undergraduate students to volunteer to receive information about sexism in politics, media and in tertiary institutions over a period of three days. One half of the group was asked to tweet their opinions during that time, while the other was required to keep their thoughts to themselves.

“We know women can be badly affected by experiences of sexism and that responding publically can be stressful and risky. This study examined whether using Twitter to respond to sexism could be done in a public way without any negative effects to their wellbeing,” Foster said in a press statement.

“All participants completed mood questionnaires and wellbeing measures after they tweeted,” the university said. “Tweets were also analysed for linguistic and emotional content. Emotions identified were: anger, discontent, sarcastic, shocked, surprise and sadness. The most common combination was surprise and discontent.”

According to the study, the group of women who posted their feelings on Twitter showed signs of improved wellbeing by the third day.

“We know that popular online campaigns such as @EverydaySexism have empowered women to speak out and share their experiences. However, this study demonstrates how tweeting publically has the potential to improve women’s wellbeing.

“More research is required to understand whether this form of collective action has any further health benefits.”

[Source – EurekAlert, image – Shutterstock]