Development and Maintenance of Self-Disclosure on Facebook: The Role of Personality Traits

This study explored the relationships between Facebook self-disclosure and personality traits in a sample of Italian users. The aim was to analyze the predictive role of Big Five personality traits on different parameters of breadth and depth of selfdisclosed behaviors online. Facebook users, aged between 18 and 64 years of age (Mage = 25.3 years, SD = 6.8; N = 958), of which 51% were female, voluntarily completed an online survey assessing personality traits and Facebook self-disclosure. Results at a series of hierarchical regression analyses significantly corroborated the hypotheses that high extroverted and openness people tend to disclose on Facebook a significant amount of personal information, whereas high consciousness and agreeableness users are less inclined to do it. Furthermore, more extroverts and agreeableness people develop less intimacy on Facebook, differently from those with high levels of openness. Results also corroborated the hypothesis of a full mediation of time usage in the relationship between personality factors such as extroversion and conscientiousness with breadth of Facebook self-disclosure. Overall, according to the findings of the current study, personality traits and Facebook self-disclosure become central both as predictive variables for depicting the different profiles of potential addicted and as variables to help educators, teachers, and clinicians to develop training or therapeutic programs aimed at preventing the risk of Internet addiction. Limitations of the study are discussed, and directions for future research are suggested

Does recent research evidence support the hyperpersonal model of online impression management?

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Elsevier in Current Opinion in Psychology on 30 May 2020, available online: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.05.005 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.The hyperpersonal model of communication was conceived in the 1990s and has driven much of the research into online impression management. Based on four principal tenets (increased control, asynchronicity of communication, increased physical distance and reallocation of cognitive resources) it has largely received empirical support, especially by research involving text-only communication. This review briefly summarises this research before identifying four areas in which it is not supported by findings: the wider context of online communication, the expanding nature of online platforms to include pictures and video, use of language in online environments, and online self-disclosure. We suggest that the model is modified and updated, or its limitations defined, with respect to this evidence.Published versio

Does recent research evidence support the hyperpersonal model of online impression management?

The hyperpersonal mode of communication was conceived in the 1990s and has driven much of the research into online impression management. It is based on four principal tenets (increased control, asynchronicity of communication, increased physical distance, increased cognitive resources) and has largely been supported, especially by research involving text-only communication. This review briefly summarises this research before identifying four areas in which it is not supported by findings: use of language in online environments, online self-disclosure, the expanding nature of online platforms to include pictures and video, and the wider context of online communication. We suggest that the model is modified and updated, or its limitations defined, with respect to this evidence

The Significance of Written Responses as a Nonverbal Cue that Contributes to Online Young Adult Relationship Initiation

This research study investigates the influence typed statements has on the decision-making process for adolescents when choosing to initiate communicating with an online dating match. Undergraduate students (n=247) were administered a 42-item survey, where participants replied to questions that asked if typed responses to prewritten questions influences their decision to initiate communicating with an online dating match. Results indicate typed responses did not adversely impact whether a person will initiate communicating with a match, but additional data does suggest other nonverbal cues are significant.

Facebook: Changing the face of communication research

The ubiquitous social networking site, Facebook, registered over one billion active users in 2012 and continues to grow (Facebook, 2018a). Not surprisingly, communication researchers around the world noticed this phenomenal shift in communication practice, a practice aided by a combination of digital communication tools—easy to access communication networks, low cost bandwidth, smartphones, application features, and so on. These developments transformed the understanding of “social networks,” turning them from face-to-face interactions among small groups into world spanning digital connections, from networks of business or professional associations supported by analogue or “old” communication practices (such as letter writing, telephone calls, or conference meetings) into always-on real-time tracking of people’s activities. This review examines 400 articles published between 2006 and 2017 in peer reviewed communication- related journals and listed in the EBSCO Communication Source database. The database returned the initial list of articles to a query using the single search term “Facebook.” Subsequent analysis grouped the articles into a number of themes. As we will see, much of the published research that involves Facebook addresses not Facebook itself but Facebook as a source of material or research data on more particular communication topics. In a way, Facebook appears as another medium for communication. After some introductory comments on the history and prior study of Facebook, this review will present the key themes that appear in the research. These include Facebook in theoretical perspectives, Facebook used in interpersonal communication, Facebook’s relationship to journalism, Facebook in education, Facebook in political communication, corporate and organizational use of Facebook, legal and ethical issues arising with Facebook, and other areas of research

Taiwanese girls’ self-portraiture on a social networking site

An increasing number of young girls produce contents in social media on a everyday basis for the opportunities to express, explore and connect. Public misunderstanding and concern are about whether girls are being narcissistic and vain. Academic works address how girls exercise agency while negotiating structure in the construction of their gendered adolescent identities. This thesis is situated in relation to our hopes and fears about girls’ self-representation through digital media production, and examines the role that photographic self-portraiture plays in girls’ social relations, personal and gender identity work. The theoretical framework combines the perspectives of gender performativity and symbolic interactionism, supplemented by analyses of personal photography. This thesis chose as its case study the popular Taiwanese social networking site Wretch, and employed a mixed method of quantitative content analysis of 2000 self-portraits of teenagers to understand how they represent themselves, and qualitative online interviews with 42 girls aged 13-20 to learn about their relationships with self-portraiture. The content analysis shows that most teenagers represent themselves in a gender stereotypical manner, while some adopt non gender-specific styles to represent themselves as friendly, suggesting that teenagers may use ideals about femininity, masculinity and sociality as shortcuts to present themselves in a positive light. Interview findings reveal how girls use camera technologies and the affordance of SNS for visual self-disclosure, which isimportant for the development of theirinterpersonal relationships. The findings also suggest that self-portraiture is not simply an act of photographing a ‘reality’ of the self, but of formulating self-image(s) and identity in the process of making self-portraits. In self-portraiture, girls are constantly confronted with the ‘who am I’ question, and construct and revise their biographies as they manage an array of audiences from different contexts all collapsing in one space. Furthermore, selfportraiture creates a distance between the ‘I’ and the ‘me’, allowing one to ‘play’ with self-image(s) and identity. It creates a space for the negotiation of ideals and anxieties, for experiments with different subject positions that may be socially or individually rewarding, and it is through these seemingly casual endeavoursthat one gradually works out their position in the social world. The thesis contributes to the scholarship on girls’ media culture, and suggests current theoretical perspective be expanded in order to better understand different ways of ‘doing girlhood’