I dislike this kind of cheap generalization which only look skin deep and don't even try to find common behavior between genders.
Young men spend about an 2 hours on games per day, and the numbers for young women is much lower. Young women however spend about 2 hours more on their phones per day more than men. Something seems very similar here if we look at the two activities together rather then in isolation.
I would instead ask what gendered benefit men get from gaming, and women from doing social activities on their phones, and I would guess the answer has something to do with inter-gender competition and status.
> I would guess the answer has something to do with inter-gender competition and status
And simply socialization. Gaming is socialization for many male gamers - it is their primary or only social circle and friends. It is the main thing they talk about even in person (what tv used to be).
Exactly: this is what I've found with my younger coworkers. I played video games a lot when I was young, but it wasn't that much of a social thing because the internet wasn't commonly available (we had BBSes) and the games were all single-player DOS or console (NES/SNES) games. Now it seems video games are a social outlet for men under 30, and as you said it's what they talk about in person a lot too, unlike TV.
>Young women however spend about 2 hours more on their phones per day more than men
What does "on their phones" mean? This is like saying they spend time "reading books." There are good books and bad books. There are edifying and educational books and pulpy trash books. Just saying "books" says nothing about the productivity.
Young men spend about an 2 hours on games per day, and the numbers for young women is much lower. Young women however spend about 2 hours more on their phones per day more than men. Something seems very similar here if we look at the two activities together rather then in isolation.
I would instead ask what gendered benefit men get from gaming, and women from doing social activities on their phones, and I would guess the answer has something to do with inter-gender competition and status.