The Facebook Self : Characteristics And Psychological Predictors Of False Self Presentation On Facebook Essay

In “Impression Management in a Networked Setting”, the reading focuses on how people and mainly adolescents project a type of fade on social media sites. The author states how many young people today are sad, but when on Facebook only take happy looking selfies and hide their true feelings, so they can get more likes from friends. And even how your social media profile page can make a good, or bad impression for a future employer; forcing teens to be more warry about what pictures, videos and reshares that are on their profile page. In the book, it goes into the scenario that teenagers

Social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) offers infinite connections and the ability to express oneself to the world. But are these connections and images of self-based upon fact or fiction? Through selective self-presentation, people often present the “ideal self” instead of the “actual self” in the online environment to achieve the feeling of positive self-esteem. In “The Way We Live Now: I Tweet, Therefore I Am”, Peggy Orenstein writes of how her Twitter posts reflected an idealized version of her life. Two studies support the hypothesis that such editing can have a positive effect on personal self-esteem. “Mirror, Mirror on my Facebook Wall: Effects of Exposure to Facebook on Self-Esteem” by Amy Gonzales presents a study demonstrating

al., 639). Although readers of the article can comprehend what the researcher is asserting, it is simplified in the USA Today article to succinctly state the link between Facebook and depression: “Social media-linked depression potentially [stems] from not only what people do online but also how their experiences linger with them afterward. (Hatner, para 3). When the author of the USA Today source describes the link between depression and Facebook, they simply say that there is a lingering effect of using Facebook and making comparisons. Although the scholarly article is saying that Facebook can intrude on daily life, they use more complicated jargon. Whereas the scholarly source uses sources for almost every sentence, there is limited citation in the USA Today source. In the USA Today article, they only quote the author of the survey once. Since the researchers of the Baker and Algorta article present research based on the research of others, they heavily cite their evidence while the popular source only cited the basic idea of the lead researcher, David Baker. In these articles,

In Melissa Healy’s article, published on May 18, 2010, Los Angeles Times, “Teenage Social Media Butterflies May Not Be Such a Bad Idea,” she argues that social media and their social skills may not be such a catastrophe after all and that teenagers who use social media are psychologically healthiest. Healy supports this claim by first describing how, according to the research found by Amori Yee Mikami, social networking sites are mostly used to, not to converse with strangers online, but to interact with friends they already know and said, “So people of well-adjusted teens may have little to worry about regarding the way their children behave when using social media. It’s likely to be similarly positive behavior.” Then, she makes a connection

Clarissa Silva article in the Huffington Post delves into social media’s impact on self-esteem. As a behavioral scientist, her interest in the matter relates to her field. She also gets the help of other experts Dr. Jennifer Rhodes, Natalia Lusinski, and Dr. Suzana Flores to help with her research. Silva states that “social media is linked to higher levels of loneliness, envy, anxiety, depression, narcissism and decreased social skills" (1). Then outlines her research findings using rhetorical appeals.

Firstly, there have been significant links between our online presence and other aspects of our mental health, which has inspired the subject matter of many recent research studies around the world. There are many psychological and physical factors that affect our mental well-being due to the impact of social media. Depression and Body Dysmorphia being the leading causes, due to the content the individuals are exposed to while online. Even though researchers coined the correlation between social media use and depression as complex. Data was collected from a sample of 340 first year college students, and the findings were that the increase use of Facebook have been associated with higher levels of loneliness. Also the extensive use of Facebook has been associated with higher rates of disordered eating and body image insecurity.

Soraya Mehdizadeh’s work, “Self-Presentation 2.0: Narcissism and Self-Esteem on Facebook,” presents the view that social networking is a “fertile” platform for narcissist to feed their egos with shallow relationships and self-promotion. In other terms, Facebook is the new public relation firm. While regulating what is seen, and presented about themselves, the narcissist are pulling attention to where they want it, their greatness. According to Mehdizadeh, it is proposed that low self-image or “vulnerability to shame” are at the root of narcissism, and Facebook likes brings validation for these people. Looking that definition, she has created a basis for her study.

These users complete the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965) and answer questions from four measures about their perceptions of Facebook. First, participants report the degree to α = .88) and connect with other people (3 items, α = .72); then they complete a 9-item measure (α = .87) of the perceived safety of self-disclosure on Facebook compared with in person interactions; finally, participants complete a 10-item measure (α = .93) concerning the advantages of disclosing on Facebook rather than in-person (Forest et al., 2012, pp.296-297). The authors analyze the given data and find out those participants with lower self-esteem view Facebook as a safer place to express themselves than do participants with higher self-esteem. The former are also more likely than the latter to believe that Facebook offers opportunities to connect with other people, to get support and attention, and to revealing their thoughts and feelings on Facebook over in person (Forest et al., 2012,

Relationships and intimacy are important during adulthood, especially during young adulthood. Happiness at this developmental stage often come from relationships that are formed. Even young adults who are not looking to form long-term or lasting relationships typically still focus on connections with others.

Finally, social media has become a way individuals negatively judge themselves as inferior to others. Americans have taken extreme actions to live up to the impractical social expectations. This is connected to self-esteem and to the individual’s emotions. People change their image for society acceptance, and personal acceptance, because many want to fit the image social media says is right. An article published by CNN states that “the more time adolescent spent on Facebook, the more likely they were to develop a negative body image and eating disorders” (Mary). A person’s body changes from day to day, a lot of people think they are overweight, ugly, etc. which in reality they almost certainly aren’t. They are used to what society says one

There are two possible ways that the use of social networking sites can affect a person’s self esteem. According to a study conducted by Amy L. Gonzales and Jeffrey T. Hancock, Facebook helps amplify students’ level of self-esteem. They explained in their study that when people post something on their profile, they have the opportunity to filter the negative information that they would not like to be exposed, and only publicize the information that they consider as positive. By doing this, people can build an ideal image of themselves online, which consequently increase the level of their self-esteem (Gonzales and Hancock, 2011). On the other hand, the study conducted by The University of Gothenburg in Sweden, which

The article I chose for this critique was “Narcissism and Social Networking Web Sites” written by Laura E. Buffardi and W. Keith Campbell from the University of Georgia. This article is based on an experiment that was taken place to prove whether others could perceive a narcissistic individual as a narcissist through observing their social media sites. This experiment was a correlational type of study. The experimenters’ goal was to analyze whether there was any correlation or connection between the web page owner being a narcissist and the type of content they had on their profile.

Throughout the years, numerous of researches are conducted to see the connections between social media (namely, Facebook) and narcissism. University of Michigan conducted a research to find the relationship between social media and narcissism. For the first part of the study, the researchers recruited approximately around 486 college undergraduate students with the median age of 19. Meanwhile, 93 adults, mostly white females, with an age mean of 35 years old, were asked by the researchers to complete an online survey for the second part of the study. Participants have to answer questions about their social media use and a personality assessment to measure their level of narcissism (Swanbrow, 2013). Based on the results obtained, Facebook users that scores higher on the personality test tend to have more friends, tag themselves more often in photos posted and update their status more often (Firestone, 2012,

Some say people who use social networking sites are prone to social isolation. Despite opposition, I am convinced that social networking helps people who are shy and socially isolated to connect with other people. This concludes that social networking can help people who have low self esteem other than lowering their self-esteem any more.Although many argue that social networking can exacerbate feelings of disconnect and put children at higher risk for depression, low self-esteem and eating disorders,I believe otherwise. According to my research, I have found that more than 25% of teens report that social makes them feel less shy, 28% feel more outgoing, 20% report feeling more confident,in which 53% of teens were identified as being shy (5 Boroughs). This means that social networking brings out a better person in most, and makes them feel better about themselves other than feeling bad inside.

Social Media has a massive impact on a person’s self-presentation because of the different trends where everyone wants to fit in with society’s expectations of what we should look like. Celebrities are made to be our role models, however, magazines photoshop and make them more toned and a lot slimmer, which makes young people want to make their bodies more like theirs. This then leads to the modern generation becoming self-conscious because they feel they have to fit in and achieve an ideal self that fits in with those around them.