On Facebook, You're Really You
Are people who they really say they are online? Conventional wisdom tells us that social networking sites, blogs and other social media outlets have allowed people to carefully craft online "personas" - essentially idealized versions of who they are in real life. Are you wittier online? More outgoing? More social? Friendlier? For those hiding behind the keyboard and computer screen, personality traits like these are easier to fake. Or are they?
According to a recent research study, maybe not. Psychologists found that "faking it" online is tougher than previously imagined. In fact, the results of the study show that people are much more likely to reveal their true personalities online and not the idealized image of who they want to be.
Idealism? Not on Your Online Profile
To conduct the research, the psychologists examined the social networking profiles of 236 U.S. and German students ages 17-22, both on Facebook and MySpace. They also had the same students take multiple personality tests in order to determine both their actual personality and their idealized personality.
Prior to this study, if you had to guess, you may have suspected that the online versions of the participants matched up more closely with the idealized personalities, not the real ones. In fact, that assumption is shared by modern-day psychologists - it even made its way into psychology journals where it was dubbed as the "idealized virtual-identity hypothesis." However, the researchers conducting this new study thought that this was a hypothesis that needed testing. "There has been no research on the most fundamental question about OSN (online social networking sites) profiles," notes the report. "Do they convey accurate impressions of profile owners?"
As it turns out, yes. The surprising conclusion uproots the previously held assumption that we are our idealized selves online. Instead, we are displaying our real personalities. "There was no evidence of self-idealization," concludes the report. "These results suggest that people are not using their OSN profiles to promote an idealized virtual identity. Instead, OSNs might be an efficient medium for expressing and communicating real personality, which may help explain their popularity."
On Facebook, We're All Real People
Although the researchers in this study looked at both MySpace and Facebook profiles to come to this conclusion, we suspect that Facebook is home to even more genuine personalities than MySpace. Instead of allowing its users to set up accounts using fake names or internet handles, Facebook only allows the use of your legal name, a policy that has led to some occasional mistakes when oddly-named real people were caught up in a Facebook purge. This up-front requirement that you "be yourself" on Facebook has had a trickle-down effect on how people use the network. Active users typically only connect with friends, family and other real-world acquaintances as opposed to strangers and other pseduo-friends as was done back in the MySpace days of "he whoever collects the most friends wins."
In addition, the privacy controls Facebook had in place at its beginning (now completely eviscerated, but that's another story...), provided its users with a sense of safety, security and comfort - they could be themselves - their real selves, flaws and all - without the world watching. The end result was the web-based equivalent of the user's offline social network where no one is all that different than they are in real life.
But What About the Older Social Networkers?
The one complaint with have with this latest research study is that it focused only on the youngest demographic of social networking users - those aged 17-22. While this digital generation may have grown up accustomed to openly sharing online, those belonging to the prior generations - especially the baby boomers and older - may be a bit more guarded when it comes to posting to Facebook (and assuming they use it, MySpace). Although the study does reveal some interesting findings about Gen Y/Gen Z and their use of the Internet, more research is necessary to determine if the conclusions span all age groups.
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Facebook is old news.
Epic fail
Yes old news
I've suspected this for sometime. Why build a forced online image of yourself, that will only come crashing down as soon as you meet someone in the real world - and Facebook largely is about real-world connections.
Facebook, just like any other flat-based 2D social network profile site is nothing compared to the virtual worlds and immersive environments such as Second Life. In worlds like Second Life, where you actually have to BE either who you are, or who you are pretending to be, in order to interact with society, then this study is relevant.
Facebook, twitter, myspace, etc.... your real self and even your persona don't make a difference. Web 2.0 social networking sites are just ego-centric, where each individual is focusing on themself, and hoping that someone else is paying attention.
In a virtual world, where you live, play, work, escape, and exist, your persona IS WHO YOU ARE, whether it's real or imagined.
I've always suspected that since ICQ's times, a lot of time ago. The first time I expected people inventing interesting lies but I just found guys trying to cry on my shoulder their sad and boring lives. We're talking about going into the web under a nick. Imagine that when you're using your real name!
I am registered on FB with a 'handle' - I don't see how it is possible for them to detect it, either. Neither would it be possible for them to detect that I have multiple accounts.
I have registered on LinkedIn with my real name. LinkedIn seems much more 'real' to me than FB - which is a sort of cartoon, IMHO. Granted, a cartoon with a large audience, but ultimately I perceive FB being more like Second Life than like LinkedIn.
Importantly, they did not study career or dating social networking sites.
There's little at stake chatting at the virtual water coolers of Facebook and Myspace.
Facebook is for idiots. I have not set up or will not set up an account.
Thanks for sharing this study and the results. Keen observation on your part about the age of the subjects in the study probably skewing the results. 17-22 years olds are definitely a whole different breed those of us over 40. Interestingly enough, I would have predicted the exact opposite of what the researchers predicted. I would have guessed the results regardless of the age of those in the study. I think our keyboards provide a sort of protection for many where they feel less vulnerable and more at ease sharing who they really are – if they want to. There are plenty of people who hide their true selves and display their persona of their ideal self when they are standing right in front of you. In my opinion, people who want to be real – will be real on and off line and vice versa.
There are some people who have a problem with facebook because it tends to become rather personal. I don’t have this problem because there isn’t anything I write on facebook that I don’t care if the whole world sees – because it might. We all have facebook inboxes for a reason. Enjoyable article that I will be re-sharing. :)
In Facebook, we are there to connect with friends. In Twitter, we wanted to play gurus.
Exactly why I love social media.
If you are what you say you are it will propel you and introduce you to opportunities you never realized where available to you.
If you are not what you say you are, it will call you on it. You can choose to learn from that and evolve or deny it and die. Ok, so maybe not die but you get my point :)
Wrong, I have a fake name on Facebook to protect my privacy and I am not "forced" by Facebook to take it off. It looks like a real name, though, and they are not going to go to the trouble to ask for my real name. As long as you have some first and last name, you can get by with it. I just don't want people adding me that I have no interest in talking to and I have some small association with from 20 years ago. I only add my close circle of friends and it works fine for me, that's all I want from it.
I do notice when you go to change your name Facebook tells you that only your legal name is allowed, and I am sure that scares some people, but seriously folks, you think they are going to stop you? Nope. If they went hardcore with it they would get less popular for those few like me who do not want to be forced to play by their game.
this is old news
I use Facebook mostly to stay in touch with my friends who live somewhere far away so I don't need to pretend someone else. I don't try to make new friends there or promote myself in any way. There are other social networks when people create a different image of themselves to meet new friends etc.