Personality Differences in Social Networking and Online Self-Presentation

Social networking websites have had a major impact on the social life of this generation. Facebook in particular has become a universal component in the lives of many people, allowing them to create an online self which may or may not be consistent with their offline person. Recent research has found that self-presentation online is strategic and deliberate in order to create a favorable impression on social networking sites (DeAndrea & Walther, 2011). There also appears to be a link between certain personality traits such as conscientiousness and extraversion, and social media use with regard to self-presentation strategies. In the present study, extraversion and conscientiousness personality traits will be measured, and levels of comfort with using the internet will be assessed to determine how they are related to online selfpresentation. Participants will be approximately 30-40 Facebook users over the age of 18, recruited via Facebook. Participants will be given a 12-item demographic survey, the 22-item Attitudes Toward Computer Usage Scale (Morris, 2009) to assess their levels of comfort with computers, and the 44-item Big Five Inventory (John, Naumann, & Soto, 2008) in order to measure their personality type. Participants’ Facebook profile pages will be assessed in terms of online activity and aspects of self-presentation by four observers recruited and trained by the researcher. Although data collection and analysis will not be completed until March 2014, it is expected that extraverted personality types will be associated with greater Facebook use in order to communicate with others than conscientious personality types. It is also hypothesized that both extroverts and conscientious individuals will be less likely to express hidden self-aspects online than those who score lower on these traits. Personality Differences in Social Networking 3 Personality Differences in Social Networking and Online Self-Presentation The way we interact with others, and especially the way we decide to present ourselves to the public plays a huge role in our social lives. Self-presentation is the way we modify, create, or maintain an impression of ourselves, attempting to lead people to think of us in a particular way (Brown, 1997). We spend most of our time in social settings, making self-presentation a prevalent aspect of our lives. Although we might purposely engage in self-presentational behavior when we are alone, for example we rehearse conversations we might have with others, we also engage in behavior that is not as deliberate, such as when we unmindfully smooth out the shirt we’re wearing before we leave our home. According to Brown, self-presentation is also very important in our lives because our success at convincing others to think we possess certain characteristics has an influence on our outcomes in life. The need to create a positive impression on others is the reason people spend so much money on brand name clothing, cosmetics, and other similar products. The pressure to make a positive impression on others can also lead people to engage in behaviors that can harm their well-being, which may cause them to live an unhappy life. If some self-presentational behavior can cause harm to an individual, why do people engage in it, and what are the different strategies they use? According to Goffman (1959) individuals want to have control over the impressions they make by changing their setting, appearance, and mannerisms. Face to face interactions can therefore be compared to theatrical performances because people in everyday life resemble actors on a stage, playing a variety of roles depending on the social situation they are in. Goffman called this idea “dramaturgical analysis.” There are several aspects of his dramaturgical analysis. “Performance” refers to the activity of an individual in front of an audience, while the actor’s “front” was explained as the part of the person’s performance which gives off the Personality Differences in Social Networking 4 particular impression they want to portray. Goffman also saw the front as being a script because an individual has to take on a certain role which suggests how they must act in the situation in order to have a positive reaction to the impression they are giving off. According to Goffman, the “setting” is exactly what it seems to be: the location where the interaction takes place. The individual has to alter his or her performance for each different setting encountered. “Appearance” is used to tell the audience of the actor’s social status, by the way they are dressed. Just like in a theatrical performance, social interactions contain a front and back stage. The front stage is when the performance takes place in front of an audience, hence where our impressions are given off. The back stage is the social space where the performers are present, but the audience is not. The main aspects of Goffman’s dramaturgical analysis can be seen as different types of strategies that people may use in order to create a positive impression on the individuals they are interacting with. In addition to the strategies seen in Goffman’s dramaturgical analysis, Brown discussed five common self-presentational strategies first suggested by Jones & Pittman (1982). The five strategies were ingratiation, self-promotion, intimidation, exemplification, and supplication. The goal of ingratiation is to get others to like you by giving them compliments and doing favors for them, because we tend to like people better who are generally nice to us. In the self-promotion strategy, individuals seek to convince others that they are competent. To prove that we are competent, we must boast or show off our talents. Since being boastful does not always lead to being well-liked, ingratiation and self-promotion strategies are combined in order to be liked by others. Intimidation is another self-presentational strategy. In this strategy, the individual wants to be feared by others and make an impression that they are powerful. Exemplification is the strategy where the individual wants to give the impression of being virtuous or morally superior. Personality Differences in Social Networking 5 This is seen by exaggerating the hardships they have endured. The last strategy is supplication, which happens when an individual makes themselves seem helpless by exaggerating their weaknesses in order to get the help and attention they want. These strategies may be used differently or more commonly by certain personality types, meaning that certain types of people use different strategies in order to get what they want from others. The way we present ourselves in person has now been greatly affected by the growth and extreme popularity of social networking sites (SNSs). People around the world are now part of an online community, whether it will be on Facebook, Twitter, eHarmony, Pintrest, etc. The way younger people go about their lives is completely different from past generations because we have the internet. We can go shopping, order food, watch television, find romantic partners, and even go to class online. Today’s society cannot seem to go without using the internet at least once a day. According to Weigley (2013), 10.8% of Americans’ time spent online was used on Facebook during the month of December 2012. In that same month, Google was the second most used online site, with people spending 10% of their time there. In addition to using online sites for entertainment purposes, people use online sites to stay in contact with friends and find romantic relationships. Online dating has become increasingly popular; approximately 11% of internet users say that they have used an online dating site (Smith, 2013). According to Smith, the most common online dating sites include Match.com, eHarmony, and Plenty of Fish. With this new form of communication comes a change in the interactions we have with people both