Self-Presentation Strategies among Users of Social Networking Sites

This study explored the strategies of self-presentation ingratiation, supplication, and enhancement among United Arab Emirates users n = 230 of popular social networking sites SNS. The size of social networks, degree of network connectivity, and perceptions of self-presentation success were examined. The results indicated a significant positive correlation between the frequency of SNS use and ingratiation and enhancement strategies. Greater diversity of online friends among the respondents was positively associated with the perception of online self-presentation success. Males and females differed in the size of the online social network they interacted with, diversity of online friends, and preferred self-presentation strategies. However, no significant gender differences were found in the levels of network connectivity and perceptions of self-presentation success.

[1]  E. Goffman The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life , 1959 .

[2]  Sook Jung Lee,et al.  Online Communication and Adolescent Social Ties: Who benefits more from Internet use? , 2009, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[3]  Michael A. Stefanone,et al.  Strategic self-presentation online: A cross-cultural study , 2013, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[4]  D. Boyd Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life , 2007 .

[5]  Judith Donath,et al.  Public Displays of Connection , 2004 .

[6]  Nicole B. Ellison,et al.  Self-Presentation in Online Personals , 2006, Commun. Res..

[7]  Azza Abdel-Azim Mohamed Online Privacy Concerns Among Social Networks’ Users , 2011 .

[8]  Wi Wong,et al.  FACES on FACEBOOK: A Study of Self-presentation and Social Support on Facebook , 2012 .

[9]  J. Curbach,et al.  Do Social Networking Sites Enhance the Attractiveness of Risky Health Behavior? Impression Management in Adolescents’ Communication on Facebook and its Ethical Implications , 2014 .

[10]  Joseph R. Dominick Who Do You Think You Are? Personal Home Pages and Self-Presentation on the World Wide Web , 1999 .

[11]  Kaye D. Trammell,et al.  Examining the New Influencers: A Self-Presentation Study of A-List Blogs , 2005 .

[12]  Sandra L. Calvert,et al.  College students' social networking experiences on Facebook , 2009 .

[13]  Mark Muraven,et al.  When modesty prevails: Differential favorability of self-presentation to friends and strangers. , 1995 .

[14]  Joseph B. Walther,et al.  Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words? , 2001, Commun. Res..

[15]  H. Miller The Presentation of Self in Electronic Life: Goffman on the Internet , 1995 .

[16]  M. Birnbaum,et al.  Taking Goffman on a Tour of Facebook: College Students and the Presentation of Self in a Mediated Digital Environment , 2008 .

[17]  M. D. Avia,et al.  Self-Presentation Strategies and the Five-Factor Model , 1998 .

[18]  Stephen M. Croucher,et al.  Social Networking and Cultural Adaptation: A Theoretical Model , 2011 .

[19]  Junghyun Kim,et al.  The Facebook Paths to Happiness: Effects of the Number of Facebook Friends and Self-Presentation on Subjective Well-Being , 2011, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[20]  Jeffrey T. Hancock,et al.  Mirror, Mirror on my Facebook Wall: Effects of Exposure to Facebook on Self-Esteem , 2011, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[21]  Denise Sevick Bortree,et al.  Presentation of self on the Web: an ethnographic study of teenage girls’ weblogs , 2005 .

[22]  J. Tedeschi,et al.  Development of a self-presentation tactics scale , 1999 .

[23]  Joseph B. Walther,et al.  Attributions for Inconsistencies Between Online and Offline Self-Presentations , 2011, Commun. Res..

[24]  B. R. Schlenker,et al.  The strategic control of information: Impression management and self-presentation in daily life. , 2000 .

[25]  Zizi Papacharissi The Presentation of Self in Virtual Life: Characteristics of Personal Home Pages , 2002 .

[26]  Jessica Vitak The Impact of Context Collapse and Privacy on Social Network Site Disclosures , 2012 .

[27]  Anne Inga Hilsen,et al.  The construction of self in social medias, such as Facebook , 2014, AI & SOCIETY.

[28]  Soraya Mehdizadeh,et al.  Self-Presentation 2.0: Narcissism and Self-Esteem on Facebook , 2010, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[29]  Shu-Chuan Chu,et al.  Social capital and self-presentation on social networking sites: a comparative study of Chinese and American young generations , 2010 .