Social norms and self-presentation on social network sites: Profile work in action

“Profile work,” that is strategic self-presentation in social network sites, is configured by both the technical affordances and related social norms. In this article, we address technical and social psychological aspects that underlie acts of sharing by analyzing the social in relation to the technical. Our analysis is based on two complementary sets of qualitative data gleaned from in situ experiences of Finnish youth and young adults within the sharing mechanisms of Facebook and Last.fm. In our analysis, we identified social norms that were formed around the prevailing sharing practices in the two sites and compared them in relation to the sharing mechanisms. The analysis revealed that automated and manual sharing were sanctioned differently. We conclude that although the social norms that guide content sharing differed between the two contexts, there was an identical sociocultural goal in profile work: presentation of authenticity.

[1]  Pertti Alasuutari,et al.  Theorizing in Qualitative Research: A Cultural Studies Perspective , 1996 .

[2]  J. Bowers.  Discourse and Social Psychology: Beyond Attitudes and Behaviour , 1988 .

[3]  Jonathan A. Smith,et al.  Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: Theory, Method and Research , 2009, QMiP Bulletin.

[4]  Jessica Vitak,et al.  Norm evolution and violation on Facebook , 2012, New Media Soc..

[5]  W. Swann,et al.  Self-verification: The search for coherence , 2003 .

[6]  Michele M. Strano.  User Descriptions and Interpretations of Self-Presentation through Facebook Profile Images , 2008 .

[7]  Danah Boyd,et al.  Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship , 2007, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[8]  L. Doob.  The psychology of social norms. , 1937 .

[9]  Alice E. Marwick,et al.  Social Privacy in Networked Publics: Teens’ Attitudes, Practices, and Strategies , 2011 .

[10]  Alice E. Marwick.  The Public Domain: Surveillance in Everyday Life , 2012 .

[11]  D. Boyd.  Social Network Sites as Networked Publics: Affordances, Dynamics, and Implications , 2010 .

[12]  Airi Lampinen,et al.  We're in it together: interpersonal management of disclosure in social network services , 2011, CHI.

[13]  J. Potter,et al.  Discourse and Social Psychology: Beyond Attitudes and Behaviour , 1987 .

[14]  Airi Lampinen,et al.  "I'll press play, but I won't listen": profile work in a music-focused social network service , 2011, CSCW.

[15]  Paul Dourish,et al.  Unpacking "privacy" for a networked world , 2003, CHI '03.

[16]  Frederic Stutzman,et al.  Boundary regulation in social media , 2012, CSCW.

[17]  L. V. Zoonen.  From identity to identification: Fixating the fragmented self , 2013 .

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

[19]  M. D. de M’Uzan.  [Self and identity]. , 1970, Revue francaise de psychanalyse.

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

[21]  D. Boyd,et al.  Sociality Through Social Network Sites , 2013 .

[22]  H. Markus,et al.  Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. , 1991 .

[23]  Shani Orgad,et al.  The cultural dimensions of online communication: a study of breast cancer patients’ internet spaces , 2006, New Media Soc..

[24]  S. Schwartz.  A Theory of Cultural Values and Some Implications for Work , 1999 .

[25]  Nicole B. Ellison,et al.  Managing Impressions Online: Self-Presentation Processes in the Online Dating Environment , 2006, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[26]  I. Ajzen,et al.  Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior , 1980 .

[27]  F. H. Hankins,et al.  The Psychology of Social Norms , 1937 .

[28]  Brandon Van Der Heide,et al.  Too Much of a Good Thing? The Relationship Between Number of Friends and Interpersonal Impressions on Facebook , 2008, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[29]  Cameron Marlow,et al.  Feed me: motivating newcomer contribution in social network sites , 2009, CHI.