Social Media Personality Essay

Have you ever noticed people acting differently over social media than they do during face to face interactions? A large amount of social media users have reported noticing someone they know displaying a different personality over social media than they present during face to face interactions. Part of this claim is that people create these different personalities when posting to social media because the environmental stress of being able to see the other people whom they are connecting with is no longer there, therefore they feel the freedom to present themselves differently than they do during interpersonal interactions. People often alter facts about themselves as well as their personality characteristics while on social media in order

There has also been a rise in the number of studies done on people’s behavior and personality differences when using social media, experts are becoming more and more interested in the effects social media has on our decision making and behavior. These studies are based on the “big five” personality traits [a term originally coined by Lew Goldberg, (1981)]. The five personality traits that this term refers to are extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experiences. By basing these studies on the big five traits this allows us to have some insight on why people post what they post and what personality types are most likely to alter certain characteristics about themselves when using social media

There is some debate about whether or not people are truly displaying themselves or If they are displaying their ideal selves meaning they display who they think they should be or who they think society wants them to be rather than who they truly are. Claims have been made that when people change their characteristics on social media in order to show their ideal selves they do this in order to impress those around them as well as to be seen in a more positive and flattering