Krämer and Winter discuss their study of the relationship between self-reported personality traits offline and social media self-presentation online, exploring the hypothesis that impression management motivates user engagement with social media networking. Since “self-esteem” is one of the most basic of human psychological needs, it points to the motive of humans to want to present oneself positively on social media, which may be appearing to have high amounts of friends through follower count, for example. However, research suggests that people with high-esteem use complex, more extreme self-presentations to larger audiences while people with low self-esteem prefer to stick to consistent, unchanging self-presentations that do not exaggerate their interests or qualities too dramatically. I found it really interesting to see that outcomes of the study showed that those who had high self-esteem and high self-efficacy were more relaxed and humorous in their style of self-presentation on social media. High self-esteem and self-efficacy individuals used impression management through looking “fun,” or more “carefree,” in their profile image, while those with “lower expectations of creating a positive impression in social situations,” a.k.a lower self-esteem or self-efficacy, chose a mode of self-presentation on social media with a more serious tone of facial expression and with no particular striking background, being more conservative in choice. Self-esteem levels even affected how text is written in self-presentation on social media, since people with higher self-esteem ratings used more informal, funny text than those with lower self-esteem ratings.
The study aimed to answer the question of, “are personality traits related to self-presentation and self-disclosure choices on social media networking platforms?” Results revealed that self-efficacy was significantly correlated with number of friends (friend/follower count increased as degree of self-efficacy increased.) Overall, self-efficacy affects the profile style, amount of friends/connections, and the amount of “profile detail” reflected on social media networking sites in users’ self-presentation. Extraverted people and strong feelings of capability lead to riskier, more elaborate ways of self-presentation on social media profiles, according to the study, and further research needs to explore whether extraverts’ traits of greater vulnerability, less restraint, and greater expression of personal information lead to “actual social success” and more success in forming friendships than introverts’ tendencies when engaging with self-presentation on social media sites.
I understand that self-efficacy has a lot to do with how people present themselves on social media, but I also have to imagine that extraversion versus introversion is another factor that should, to an extent, be considered separately, since just because someone is introverted does not necessarily mean that they face feelings of weak self-efficacy. Introversion leads to less profile displays of opinions or details about oneself, and I do not think we can assume that this person does not feel high self-efficacy. We do know is that extraversion and online communication are strongly correlated, because if people enjoy expressing themselves openly in public, this trait likely translates to seeking public attention on social media platforms.
I find it really interesting that people with high self-esteem seem to maintain a more relaxed and lighthearted social media presence than those with lower self-esteem. Considering my own social circle, I see a wide range of social media styles. While some of my friends opt for a more serious, posed social media presence, others treat the app more casually. Though self-confidence certainly plays a role in one’s self-presentation, I think personality type is indicative as well. My “funnier” friends typically have funnier social media accounts, and are able to do so in a more natural way. Regardless of the impression one strives to make, however, I believe both of these approaches are still “curated” in some capacity. Even for the people who attempt to achieve a more “carefree” and “humorous” social media presence (myself included), there is still a level of thought and effort being put into this image. Nothing is as “effortless” as it appears to be on social media. As I’m scrolling through my Instagram feed, I often see swipe posts that seem extremely “low-effort.” Many users are promoting the concept of “making Instagram casual” by posting photos that seem raw and unfiltered. I love this sentiment, and think making social media platforms more relaxed will create a way less stressful environment. Even so, I think there is never a way to make social media TRULY casual. There will always be a certain image that the user hopes to achieve, regardless of whether it be candid or well-planned.
This is a really interesting topic to consider, but at the end of the day, I agree with you that there are many more personality-related factors involved than just efficacy. I think that one’s efficacy would effect one’s choice to even participate in social media, nevermind the kinds of things they post and how they communicate with others. Additionally, there is also the fact to consider the bias of people on social media. As I mentioned, ones efficacy, and also their extroverted/introverted-ness, would probably effect them even being on social media, so the group of people on social media is already bias. That being said, I do understand and recognize that this can be a big factor of what people post. At the same time, I rarely see anyone posting only serious posts with serious facial-expressions. No matter how low self esteem one has, that’s pretty rare to see on social media, at least from my experience. I feel as though most people look the same on social media—everyone wants to seem happy, fun, and like they are doing things. There’s just more to consider.
Hi Anna! I think the findings of this study are an important topic to discuss, especially among females who use social media. It makes complete sense that those with higher self esteem are more carefree on social media, while those with low self esteem are more reserved and curated. When I think of my own social circle both on and off the internet, these findings certainly correlate with my own friend’s personality types and insecurities. My friends who consider themselves more insecure will send twenty different photos of themselves, edit it heavily, and fixate on the perfect comment. This is in contrast to my more secure friends, who will post a photo or story without a second thought, with minimal editing and filters, and a silly comment. What I’ve realized is that those who look like they have the perfect life, the most followers, and the most photogenic photos are usually those who are the most insecure. It’s important that both females and males take a step back from the bubble of social media, and connect back into reality. After all, social media is FAKE!