The Psychology of Social Media

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Living in the 21st century requires one to stay current with latest technological advancements. Ever since the development of social networking sites, people are now able to create a carefully-crafted identity for themselves. This has led psychologists to question how well these online personalities match the person in front of the computer. The innovative branch of media psychology looks into how social networking portrays individuals and initiates human interactions within a society.

A basic question is how well are people able to get to know each other through social networking sites? In a research study, Psychster Inc. explored characteristics of profile pictures and their association with impression. Using a specially designed social networking website, http://www.YouJustGetMe.com, Psychster analyzed 1,316 first impressions of profile owners who had posted photographs as part of a complete profile (Steele, Evans, & Green, 2008). The results suggest that photographs in which the profile owners were smiling, outdoors, and shown with others were associated with higher impression agreement. Some results implied that other aspects of the photographs, such as head covering and weight, also affected impression agreement depending on the gender of the profile owner (Steele, Evans, & Green, 2008). Overall, this research suggests that visitors to online profiles are likely to view the profile owners just as the owners view themselves, even if they have never met before.

In another study, University of Texas psychologist Samuel Gosling measured the correlation between personality on and off line of 133 undergraduates with Facebook profiles. Gosling discovered that students’ personalities were accurately represented online, contrary ...

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...orth 1000 words? Photo characteristics associated with personality impression agreement. Psychster, Retrieved from http://psychster.com/library/SteeleEvansGreen_ICWSM09.pdf

Suler, J. Ph.D. (2004). The online disinhibition effect. Cyberpsychology & Behavior. Volume 7, Number 3. Retrieved from http://lacomunidad.elpais.com/blogfiles/apuntes-cientificos-desde-el-mit/71994_Suler.pdf

UOPX Writer Network (2010). The psychology of social media addiction. University of Phoenix: College of Social Sciences. Retrieved from http://www.phoenix.edu/colleges_divisions/social-sciences/articles/2010/08/the-psychology-of-social-media-addiction.html

Wilson, C. (2007). Staying true to themselves. Student Facebook profiles, it turns out, match the real thing. U.S. News and World Report. Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070708/16facebook.htm

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