Impression Management 2.0

TLDR

Social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and StudiVZ are widely used for personality communication, and research shows that impression management motivates active participation, yet the factors shaping online self‑presentation and disclosure remain unexplored. The study explored how offline personality traits relate to online self‑presentation on social networking profiles. The authors surveyed 58 StudiVZ users and analyzed their profiles, finding that self‑efficacy in impression management predicts the number of virtual friends, profile detail, and photo style. Extraversion had a modest effect on online self‑presentation, while self‑esteem showed no significant influence.

Abstract

Social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, and StudiVZ are popular means of communicating personality. Recent theoretical and empirical considerations of homepages and Web 2.0 platforms show that impression management is a major motive for actively participating in social networking sites. However, the factors that determine the specific form of self-presentation and the extent of self-disclosure on the Internet have not been analyzed. In an exploratory study, we investigated the relationship between self-reported (offline) personality traits and (online) self-presentation in social networking profiles. A survey among 58 users of the German Web 2.0 site, StudiVZ.net, and a content analysis of the respondents’ profiles showed that self-efficacy with regard to impression management is strongly related to the number of virtual friends, the level of profile detail, and the style of the personal photo. The results also indicate a slight influence of extraversion, whereas there was no significant effect for self-esteem.