Essay about The Psychology of Social Media

“People can take their time when posting information about themselves, carefully selecting what aspects they would like to emphasize (Gonzales 80).” By controlling what information and self-attributes to share with the online world, an individual may present an idealized version of self that would not align with societal perceptions in the face-to-face interactions. Furthermore, Gonzales notes that recent research in computer-mediated communications suggests that online self-presentations can alter self-perceptions (80). As Orenstein says, “I tweet, therefore I am.” The online presentations of self can become the reality, or idealized reality, of the

Costs & McCrae, (1995) supported the development that each of the Five Factor Model (FFM) further split into six facets, (Widiger & Costa, 2012). The five factor model and their six facets are explained as: “Extraversion (E) – gregariousness, sociability, affiliation, dominance, boldness and forcefulness, Agreeableness (A) - generous, cooperative, altruistic and warm, Conscientiousness (C) – responsible, efficiency, dependability, carefulness and organization, Neuroticism (low ES) – anxiousness, insecurity, indecisiveness and being tense /Emotional Stability (ES) - self-reliant and stable and Openness to Experience (O) – imaginative, unconventional, curious, original and independent minded” (Ehrhart et. al., 2008) allowing the five factor model to be effective in developing cross-cultural questionnaires (Costs & McCrae, 1995).

Social networking sites are often a platform used to create a sense of self that does not exist, one that is valued by society, and/or one that seeks attention. Individuals are creatures of expression that yearn for attention towards their feelings. For instance, the Steve Stephens murder incident on Facebook during Easter. Steve Stephens used the featured Facebook Live to express his feelings towards things that were going on in his life that caused him to go into a state of depression. In these videos, he shared that he attempted to talk to love ones and no one bothered to listen to him.

Personality can be defined through the model used in Parker’s et al. (2004) study which includes agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, neuroticism, and extraversion. Agreeableness is getting along with other people, conscientiousness is the ability to stay on task, openness is how a person adapts to change, neuroticism is a predisposition to negative emotions, and extraversion is the need for sensation-seeking. Together those personality dimensions describe individual differences. To measure these dimensions, a common tool used was the NEO Five-Factor Inventory. This was a self-report questionnaire containing 60 items, and a score is calculated to indicate the level of each dimension.

The continued growth of social media has explicitly put us, the user, in a position to be highly exposed to the availability of information in an instantaneous manner. As a result, we have the tendency to aimlessly click through links and news posts that are displayed on the social media websites. From posts of your neighbor’s dog to your uncle’s crazy night in town, there are interesting subjects that face your social media timeline, none more interesting than the “personality” quizzes that promise reliable/accurate results. Upon taking these quizzes, you may notice that the questions it prompts present a very repetitive and generalized feel. In the case that you may actually want to figure out a reliable method to uncover your overall personality traits, the Jung Typology test

The purpose or hypothesis of this study addresses the anatomy of the Facebook network, communication behaviors and network composition, private messages and public communication, and the psychological implications of Facebook use.

Facebook is viewed one of the greatest innovations of the last decade. Suddenly, everyone could connect with their friends online from anywhere. With greater mobility and customization than competitors, Facebook’s popularity exploded and was soon used by myriads of people. Emboldened by Facebook’s success, Twitter, Instagram and many others were created. The world was soon interconnected as all of these outlets were available at the click of a mouse or as a cellphone app. Almost everyone possesses some form of social media that links them to the rest of the world. Society and culture are so intertwined with social media that it is natural for “myths” to emerge. These myths include the notions that social media boosts self-esteem, that people’s privacy is protected as long as only friends are able to view their profiles, and that it is an accurate, effective news outlet. Despite the benefits of the connection brought by social media, there are serious drawbacks and many negative aspects related to its use.

Research surrounding social media has explored the ways in which people interact with their social world when the social world moves online. When considering the existence of the Halo effect, Fullwood and Hamilton, (2016a) also note that a person may not have to worry about being perceived as 'lesser ' due to their looks if they are able to hide the way they look. This could potentially be achieved by spending more time on an online platform as opposed to the outside world.

“Multi-platform use is on the rise: 52% of online adults now use two or more social media sites, a significant increase from 2013, when it stood at 42% of internet users,” stated on pewinternet.org. A lot of what we think about ourselves comes from our connections with other people. Our sense of self-identity originates from our social interactions. Our sense of identity comes from how other people respond to us and from how we present ourselves to others. Neuroscientists know that this process begins in infancy and continues throughout life. Yet, social interaction is undergoing significant changes. This is partly due to changing social norms, but also to the use of social media. Facebook, Twitter, and online dating sites are changing the way we see ourselves, our ability to influence how others see us, and the way we act as a result.

From online banking to social networks these websites require that the users post important information. Facebook is a very popular social network especially with high school and college students. Lane discusses “The motivating factor behind the success of the current Internet rage…is that people crave a sense of community, and one of the ways to build community is to share personal information” (p. 232). Lane also states, “…Facebook encourages us to reveal increasingly large amounts of information about ourselves, from the banal (“I’m standing in line at the post

Over many recent years an increase in online social media use and growth has been noticed (O’Keeffe & Clarke-Pearson, 2011. Bergman, 2011); with this we as a society have seen a change in being and behavior. Due to this, investigations have been taken under way to highlight the effects of social media and its correlations with an individual’s personality. The field is being narrowed down to focus mainly on the adolescent stage of life. This essay explores the current benefits of social media, the bases of personality,

Personality tests are used to determine your type of personality, your values, interests and your skills. Mostly people conduct personality tests to determine their aptitude towards a certain type of career. A personality test aims to describe aspects of a person's character that remain stable throughout that person's lifetime, the individual's character pattern of behavior, thoughts, and feelings. Similarly The BIG FIVE PERSONALITY TEST is also one of the very famous and most frequently taken test which analysis a person’s basic characteristics on the basis of five dimensions of personality. The Big Five model is considered to be one of the most comprehensive, empirical,

The study was examined by categories using the information given by the observers and then tested the predictive validity of the personality classifications based on the Facebook Info pages. The raters in this case made personality judgments of the target individuals, based on either full Facebook Info pages or single categories of information within the Info

We calculated descriptive statistics for each of the Big Five personality traits. The means, standard deviations, and medians for each are as follows: Extraversion (E; M = 3.16, SD = .94, Mdn = 3.25), Agreeableness (A; M = 4.24, SD = .71, Med = 4.25), Conscientiousness (C; M = 3.46, SD = .786, Mdn = 3.5), Emotional Stability (ES; M = 3.11, SD = .75, Mdn = 3.00), and Openness (O; M = 3.69, SD = .76, Mdn = 3.75). The median would be a more accurate measure of central tendency for Agreeableness. The scores in this subscale were

Personality can be measured as a set of items usually questions about behaviour and feelings to which the subjects have to respond by agreeing or disagreeing with that question or statements. (Kline, 1993)