A Social network is ‘a dedicated website or other application which enables users to communicate with each other by posting information, comments, messages, images, etc.’ (Butera & Library, 2011) It can also be described as a key part of daily life as 74% of online adults use it (Pew Research Centre, 2013). In just over a decade, social networking has shifted from being a relatively small industry, to Facebook, the largest provider having over 1.27billion active users (Sedghi, 2016). The prevalence of websites such as Facebook, Twitter, apps such as Instagram and Snapchat has made psychologists wonder whether social networking shapes human views and expectations of society, and how this affects how authentic people are when presenting themselves
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If a person has higher self-esteem, we would expect them to be more authentic in presenting themselves in social networks because they would be relatively confident in their identity and appearance so the pressure to fit society’s expectations and be a certain way would not be as intense as for someone with lower self-esteem. (Marwick, 2014). Nonetheless, people often upload photographs where they are having fun on holidays, are happy with their partner, or appear wealthy when they are dissatisfied with their lives, or are stressed, to remind themselves that they are actually happy. Users can sometimes create a perfect life online because they are in denial of the fact that something is lacking in their lives, and they need reassurance that this is not the case- “I have a side of my apartment that I photograph, and it’s perfect. The other side is always a mess.’ (Miller, 2015). It may be that happier people find it easier to be authentic …show more content…
In the 1990s when social networks first emerged, users had nicknames such as ‘skateboy24’ which gave a sense of anonymity, whereas now Facebook and Instagram ask for a real name on the profile, this could explain why users are less authentic on social media now. (Marwick, 2014) On networks such as Facebook and Twitter where people have their own profiles, they’re more likely to post what they feel is acceptable because they know that they will be judged one way or another for it. For example, if a person has extremist political views, they may wish to withhold those views from social networks such as Facebook and instead discuss these with peers who feel the same way to avoid creating a negative representation of
If a person has higher self-esteem, we would expect them to be more authentic in presenting themselves in social networks because they would be relatively confident in their identity and appearance so the pressure to fit society’s expectations and be a certain way would not be as intense as for someone with lower self-esteem. (Marwick, 2014). Nonetheless, people often upload photographs where they are having fun on holidays, are happy with their partner, or appear wealthy when they are dissatisfied with their lives, or are stressed, to remind themselves that they are actually happy. Users can sometimes create a perfect life online because they are in denial of the fact that something is lacking in their lives, and they need reassurance that this is not the case- “I have a side of my apartment that I photograph, and it’s perfect. The other side is always a mess.’ (Miller, 2015). It may be that happier people find it easier to be authentic …show more content…
In the 1990s when social networks first emerged, users had nicknames such as ‘skateboy24’ which gave a sense of anonymity, whereas now Facebook and Instagram ask for a real name on the profile, this could explain why users are less authentic on social media now. (Marwick, 2014) On networks such as Facebook and Twitter where people have their own profiles, they’re more likely to post what they feel is acceptable because they know that they will be judged one way or another for it. For example, if a person has extremist political views, they may wish to withhold those views from social networks such as Facebook and instead discuss these with peers who feel the same way to avoid creating a negative representation of