1 Introduction

Bangladesh has 178.5 million cellular mobile connections in 2022, according to Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) Intelligence. However, many people around the world have multiple mobile connections, such as one for work and one for personal use, so mobile connection figures often exceed population figures. In January 2022, GSMA Intelligence reported 106.8% of Bangladeshis had mobile connections. Bangladesh added 10 million mobile connections (+ 6.2%) between 2021 and 2022 [1]. The economic, cultural, and social spheres are all being altered significantly as a result of the proliferation of smartphones and the numerous benefits they provide. Specifically, the ease with which we can communicate with others via various smartphone applications has a significant impact on our social interactions. Consequently, many studies have focused on gathering preliminary data about various smartphone uses and motivations, with an emphasis on users' individual characteristics and other factors influencing the adoption of smartphones [2]. A thorough study that examines the gender differences in smartphone use has not yet been done, though. Gender variations in technology usage patterns have been a major issue of study in the field of information and communication technology (ICT) [3].

Researchers investigated how men and women utilize information and communication technology to manage their social networks differently [4, 5]. The study conducted by Nisreen et al. examined the disparities between genders in the adoption and usage of smartphones in Iraq. This study investigates gender disparities in smartphone adoption and usage in Iraq, specifically emphasizing the variables influencing women's adoption and usage of cellphones. The results suggest that while focusing on Iraqi women, it is necessary to take into account issues beyond only pricing [6]. A separate study was conducted to examine gender disparities among customers in a cross-national setting in the Middle East, namely the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Jordan. This study is beneficial for policymakers aiming to mitigate the disparity in smartphone uptake and usage across genders. In both nations, the importance of national technological advancement and the implementation of effective policies targeting women was recognized [7]. Taywade et al.'s study aims to investigate the disparities in smartphone usage patterns among teenagers based on gender. Additionally, the study seeks to identify potential factors contributing to the rise of smartphone addiction in both males and females. The study aims to investigate the factors contributing to excessive use of smartphones among girls, who spend a considerably bigger amount of their time on cellphones compared to males. Additionally, the study seeks to identify potential remedies for this issue [8]. Chen et. al conducted a study to investigate the impact of reasons and gender disparities on addiction to smartphones. The researchers discover that gender influences the impact of perceived happiness, hobby, and compliance on addiction to smartphones [9]. According to the results, males are more likely to prioritize leisure activities like playing online games, whereas females are more likely to choose those that facilitate interaction with others [10].

Different ways that men and women use information tools may have different effects on different parts of society. These results give us a chance to talk about how gender differences in how men and women use smartphones affect their social relationships. Smartphones, by merging communication and media technologies, may be used for a broad range of activities, from acquiring information and/or entertainment to building social connections. So, the different ways women and men use their phones and how they interact with each other can be studied by looking at how they use their phones and how they interact with each other. This is because the way people use smartphones is socially built based on how their technology allows them to do more than one thing.

1.1 Differences in how men and women use smartphone apps

Previous research investigations have demonstrated that men and women engage in internetbased activities differently [4, 11]. Most women's time spent with new media is dedicated to chatting with friends and keeping in touch with those they already know. On the other hand, men were more likely to utilise new media for both learning and recreation [12, 13]. Website use, email exchange, and Chat use were all favoured more by women than by men, while men were more inclined to spend time on computer games. One of the most popular forms of internet engagement among females was communicating with friends and family via email [4] whereas men were more likely to spend their time on news sites, task-oriented job sites, or government agency sites [14]. Another example is how female mobile phone users differ from their male counterparts in that they are more likely to use their phones for messaging and other forms of multimedia [14, 15]. This distinction may indicate that women benefit more from the mobile phone than men do in terms of developing an expressive communication style that provides psychological support within their networks of friends and family. This leads us to wonder whether men and women use different smartphone apps for various reasons. Therefore, we can assume that smartphone application usage will differ depending on gender.

1.2 Differences between men and women in social relationships and peer support on smartphones

"Expressiveness" and "instrumentality" are often used to talk about differences between men and women [16]. Expressiveness refers to a collection of character traits that facilitate closeness and sharing in interpersonal interactions via the expression of feelings. On the opposite hand, instrumentality is a style of interaction that is more autonomous and based around shared tasks [4]. These ideas provide the impression that the gender gap that is innately present in communicative orientation leads to differences in the manners in which people communicate and maintain social connections. Previous research has shown that men and women interact with people and handle their relationships in different ways, particularly when it comes to the use of mediated communication such as the telephone and the internet [17]. Because it is simpler to exchange ideas and emotions at a distance than to participate in similar activities, the authors stated, women are more likely than males to utilize communication technology to maintain a big circle of distant connections. Specifically, women devote more time than males to social activities like maintaining existing relationships and making new ones. Men, contrary to women, are more likely to participate in activities that are task-focused (such as reading newspapers or collecting economic information), rather than activities that are relationship focused. This is because men place higher importance on the value and efficacy of information and communication technologies (ICTs) [3]. From another perspective, text messages between friends are an outcome of the relationship and a way to sustain it. Thus, focused conversation between users using communication technology strengthens social bonds [18]. According to the findings of Burke and his colleagues, women are more inclined than men to participate in activities on social networking sites in order to build their connections and social power. The purpose of this research is to investigate whether or not a distinct value is placed on social connections that are mediated by cellphones, and if it is, how the gender difference manifests itself on smartphones if it is found to exist. The many modes of communication offered by smartphones make it possible for users to maintain constant contact with the members of their social networks regardless of the location or the passage of time. Smartphone use has been embedded in social behavior due to its easy accessibility to social media platforms and instant messaging (IM). The total number of Facebook users increased by 1.73 billion between 2013 and 2022, representing a rise of 140.7% and an average annual growth rate of 10.9%. This represents a growth rate of 10.9% per year [19]. What this indicates is that Facebook is increasingly being used on mobile devices rather than desktop PCs. This research takes into account the dynamic nature of technology usage by analyzing the ways in which male and female smartphone users establish and maintain relationships via their devices' many channels of interaction. As a result, we may predict that there will be gender inequalities in the social interactions that take place on smartphones. Gender inequalities in this context pertain to the divergent ways in which men and women utilize smartphones in their daily activities. This is attributed to the disparities in the nature of labor in Bangladesh, where males predominantly serve as the main earners in several households.

The necessary emotion for social support may vary between men and women because to their diverse perspectives on the significance of relationships. Strong bonds of friendship and trust within one's social network pave the way for a sense of belonging and emotional support [20]. Having friends and family who have your back might help you deal with tough emotions like stress and loneliness [21]. Previous research found that gender variations in observed social support had a substantial impact on ICT use. Compared to men, women typically consider social support from Internet use to be higher [22]. According to a research of the content of public comments on MySpace, it has been shown that women are more likely than males to post and receive remarks that are emotional and encouraging [5]. These results suggest that gender differences in emotional display in communications may influence the level of social support received. This research looks at whether or not men and women experience distinct repercussions from smartphone use in terms of their social networks. Smartphones' many avenues of contact are a boon to the social support that friends and acquaintances may provide one another. Using a smartphone's integrated multiple capabilities at the same time as opposed to the separate functions of traditional media may provide a powerful boost to the feeling of community. Thus, the following hypothesis is proposed for study: males and females will have considerable differences in smartphone usage as well as a sense of social support.

2 Methodology

2.1 Methods and tools

For this study, a web-based survey was created and put into use with the express purpose of examining Bangladeshi citizens' decisions on the use of smartphones by both men and women. We created an electronic survey using Qualtrics survey software and distributed it to an online panel to complete the fielding process. Qualtrics uses digital fingerprinting technology, verifies each IP address, and generates samples from many sources (via approved sample partners) rather than relying solely on a single panel to prevent duplication and ensure validity. Before the survey is launched, a random assignment is made from each panel base sample to the entire population. Qualtrics uses specialized panels created through focused recruitment efforts for surveys that aim to reach groups that are challenging to reach. Panelists' pay is commensurate with the length of the questionnaires, the difficulty of the goal, and their individual profiles [23].

The survey took a mean of 15 minutes to complete, with a median time of 12 minutes. Furthermore, the research region, which included five distinct cities in Bangladesh ranging from large metropolises to smaller villages, was subject to quotas. The cities of Sylhet, Chattogram, Dhaka, Rajshahi, and Khulna were listed. This suggests that there are more positive than negative aspects to electronic survey procedures and monetary incentives for people, notwithstanding some valid concerns regarding the potential for bias in these approaches. One study found that financial incentives improved the answer rate and demographic representation of an online survey among undergraduates at an institution in the Midwest of the United States [24]. Discrepancies were found between the total number of individuals involved and the actual population dimensions in this study, but the researchers felt they were too modest to warrant additional investigation. This is very important since the research, like many others before it, looked at patterns of behavior.

3 Sampling

In February 2023, data were taken from 250 students at different colleges/universities in Bangladesh. The sample primarily consists of students due to their higher inclination towards social media compared to other individuals. This study was approved by Directorate of Research & Extension, Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh. The ethical approval number is- CUET/DRE/2023/112. In the end study, there were a total of 240 participants: 136 men and 104 women. Missing data and outliers were not counted. The subjects' ages ranged from 18 to 26 (Mean = 21.6, Standard Deviation = 2.37), and they all owned and regularly used a smartphone. The number of men in this group is much higher than the number of women. While 136 (56.7%) of the participants were men, 104 (43.3% of the participants) were women. The sample's male-to-female ratio differs significantly from the population's. The present research consequently applied a measure of weighting on the male participants' replies to account for the gender distribution of frequencies of the population and to mitigate distortion within the sample.

3.1 Measures

3.1.1 Use of Smartphone application

The current research focuses on smartphone interaction behaviors to examine smartphone usage in connection to social interactions and perceived social support. How often people use their smartphones for 1) making phone calls to their friends and 2) sending and receiving text messages and instant messages and social networking site posts with their friends. Few people who possess smartphones still use SMS for messaging, since IM (like Messenger or WhatsApp, a cross-platform texting programme) and SNSs have mostly replaced it. Consequently, our analysis included not just SMS but also Internet-based text interactions, IM, and SNS. Using a 7-point Likert scale (where 1 = never and 7 = very frequently), respondents divided their time between phoning and texting differently (Mean = 4.86, Standard Deviation = 1.56 for calls; Mean = 5.79, Standard Deviation = 1.37 for texts).

3.1.2 Social relationships

Boase and Kobayashi's [25] nine-item survey was modified to assess social connections. Respondents were asked to indicate how much they agreed or disagreed with statements concerning the supposed linking, connecting, and breaking with ties functions of smartphones (1 = strongly disagree; 7 = strongly agree). Two smartphone-mediated social ties were created by summing and averaging two components using principal component analysis: 1) fostering connections with one's close companions e.g. Smartphones have helped you get closer to your close friends and made you feel like they were close by. (Mean = 4.47, Standard Deviation = 1.17, α = 0.88) and 2) connecting relationships with friends e.g. having a smartphone has boosted the number of individuals your friends with beyond school, and it's made it easier to stay in contact with new people you've met. (Mean = 3.57, Standard Deviation = 1.31, α = 0.86).

3.1.3 Social support as perceived

The social support scale developed by Zimet et al. [26] was used to assess how well participants felt they were supported by their peers. Seven statements were given to the participants to rate their degree of agreement therewith. These are:

  1. 1.

    I have a special person who provides me with great solace.

  2. 2.

    My companions do their best to assist me.

  3. 3.

    I can rely on my peers whenever something goes awry.

  4. 4.

    I can talk to my family about my issues.

  5. 5.

    I have friends with whom I can share my joy and my sorrow.

  6. 6.

    I have a special person in my life who is concerned about my feelings.

  7. 7.

    I can talk to my peers about my problems

The range of the scale was between 1 (strongly disagree) and 7 (strongly agree). The items were tallied and averaged to produce a perceived social support index (Mean = 5.41, Standard Deviation = 1.16, α = 0.90).

4 Results and discussion

4.1 Differences between the Males and females in Smartphone Use

In the first hypothesis, we tested the idea that men and women utilize different apps on their smartphones. Chi-square analysis revealed a statistically significant gender gap in how three smartphone-related activities were used by male and female respondents. The smartphone camera was utilized more frequently by female (60.61%) than male (39.39%) participants. On the contrary, more men than women said that their primary smartphone use was not social networking or instant messaging but rather making phone calls or utilizing other programmes like gaming, business, entertainment etc. as illustrated in Table 1.

Table 1 Variation of Smartphone apps use by men and women
Full size table

The gender gap between male and female is particularly pronounced in the context of gaming. There are significantly more male participants (69.91%) than female participants (30.09%). However, nearly identical usage was noticed in SNSs and instant messaging (IM), which is a favorable indication for any nation as it shows that men and women are equally engaged on modern information technology.

4.2 Gender gap in smartphone-based social networks and emotional support

The second and third assumptions analyzed the effects of smartphone use on gender disparities in friendships and social networks. The current study tested the assumptions by looking at the correlation between smartphone use and participants' social networks and their sense of social support. In this study, a hierarchical regression analysis has been used to investigate the role that gender, age, and the amount of communication using a smartphone had in predicting the development and establishment of social relationships as well as the perception of social support. We also looked at how the amount of smartphone-mediated contact and gender interacted to see if the gender effects of smartphone use showed up in the three dependent variables. Users' age and gender were included into the regression equations first, followed by the frequency with which they communicated via their smartphones and the interaction effects between their genders.

After entering all of the variables, the hierarchical multiple regression equation explained 39% of the variation in social connection bonding. There was no significant effect of age and gender entered in Step 1 on bonding social ties, accounting for only 4% of the overall variation. The predictor explained 35% of the variation after Step 2's entry of the volume of smartphone-mediated conversation. More specifically, SMS, IM, and SNS usage among friends was a substantial positive predictor of the amount of social interaction (β = 0.625, p < 0.001) to impact bonding connections. On the contrary, we did not discover any statistically significant connections between any of the factors and the act of bridging social ties as illustrated in Table 2.

Table 2 Social implications, smartphone usage patterns and gender
Full size table

The hierarchical multiple regression equation explains 33% of the difference in how much social help people felt they had. In Step 1, age and gender made up 6% of the total difference. The model may explain 27% more of the difference by including the percentage of smartphone-associated contact in second step. Age (β = 0.143, p < 0.05) and gender (β = 0.214, p < 0.01) were significant predictors of the level of social support that individuals believed they received. The amount of calling (β = 0.29, p < 0.001) and texting (β = 0.33, p < 0.001) with friends through smartphone was a big positive influence in people's perceptions of social support. Table 2 shows a summary of the end results of the hierarchical regression studies.

The regression model looked at how gender and the amount of text-based communication through smartphones affect bonding social ties. It discovered a substantial favorable relationship between communication via text and gender (β = 0.20, p < 0.05). Based on these findings, it appears that female participants can benefit more than male participants from using their smartphones for texting in order to improve bonding relationships.

Table 2 also revealed a negative interaction effect ( β = -0.34, p < 0.01) between text conversations on cellphones and gender when it came to forming new friendships. This suggests that men are more likely than women to attribute a high degree of social connection to their increased smartphone texting.

The current study set out to learn more about gender disparities in smartphone application use among young adults, as well as to analyze the impact of gender on cellphones in terms of societal assistance and relationships with others. Women are much more likely than males to use the camera function on their cell phones. males, on the other hand, are more likely to make phone calls and use other functions. Men have a greater tendency to use their cell phones for work-related purposes specially part-time jobs. Many students in poor countries have financial difficulties during their academic journey. In order to address this problem, numerous students opt to engage in part-time employment, such as working at shops, restaurants, and similar venues. Attending university as a student incurs expenses, but being a foreign student entails additional financial burdens. In addition to the escalating global cost of living, pursuing part-time employment while attending university may appear to be the sole viable choice. One may require employment to meet daily expenditures, settle tuition fees, cover additional academic charges, or just to get supplementary disposable income. Male students use their smartphones in these issues.

Women are more prone to use them for entertainment and social interaction, such as sharing photos and videos from their daily lives and browsing the lives of others. Taking images could be a fun opportunity for young women to meet new people, document their lives as they unfold, and share their unique perspectives with the world. Finding gender differences in smartphone use for relationship maintenance is a key addition of this study. Interaction investigations revealed that the positive impacts of texting through smartphone on forming and maintaining friendships vary depending on the user's gender. Women are more likely than males to believe their bonding connections improve when they spend time texting via smartphone, whereas both genders believe their bridging relationships improve. These results show that women are more likely than males to utilize their smartphones to strengthen their close, strong friendships through regular contact and shared interests (Additional file 1).

One possible explanation for the gender imbalance in smartphone-mediated social contact patterns is that men and women utilize their phones for different reasons. According to the study's preliminary findings, women’s close-friend communication is the primary reason they use their smartphones (Mean = 4.13, SD = 1.44 for men; Mean = 4.54, SD = 1.35 for women; t = − 2.81, p < 0.01). Previous studies by Boneva et al. [4] had already demonstrated women's tendency as huge communicators, and this finding reinforced that trend. Scholars have shown that women, more so than males, use their social networks to determine who they are and how they fit into the world.

5 Conclusion

This research adds to our knowledge of how males use their smartphones to foster connections with others through text message. The findings demonstrated that men, who spend more time than women on smartphone text messaging, are more likely to cultivate social contacts that serve as social bridges. This study provides evidence that male smartphone users are less likely to prioritize interactions with a small subset of their friend networks than their female counterparts. Some instant messaging (IM) clients like Messenger and WhatsApp are just some of the text communication features made possible by smartphones. SNS communication infrastructure enhances bonding and bridging relationships. Specially, by facilitating users' ability to monitor and respond to any material, including public broadcasts shared by friends, updates on status, and open discussions, SNS activities provide the communication context to bridge social relations. These activities may not be geared towards relationship maintenance among close friends, but are more likely to be linked to a diverse set of social relationships for viewing material on SNSs. As a result, we may conclude that men's instrumental communication techniques connect them to a wide range of social relationships. Women and the elderly were more likely to report high levels of social assistance after we controlled for their demographic characteristics. Females in the present study experienced higher emotional and expressive social support than men when using cellphones, which is consistent with gender differences in perceived support from others on the Internet and SNS [5, 22]. Besides, the more participants used mediated forms of interpersonal contact such as phone calls, texts, and SNS, the more social support they reported receiving. The findings suggested that phone calls and texts would rise when respondents expressed their emotions to their networked peers in a supportive setting.

Considering the importance of this study, there are certain shortcomings that might be addressed in follow-up investigations. The study's subjects do not accurately portray the population's underlying dynamics in Bangladesh. While young adults in college and universities make up the bulk of smartphone users, we cannot generalize the results of this study beyond that demographic. However, our research does indicate that there are significant gender variations in smartphone-associated communication and that the results of men's instrumental contacts and women's expressive interactions are different in terms of upholding social bonds. This investigation has the potential to serve as a case study for elucidating the dynamics underlying disparities in use of smartphones and social outcomes across the sexes. The context and diversity of smartphone users is an area for further study.