Motives for disclosing information on Facebook
Facebook is often depicted as a platform to see and to be seen (Pempek et al., 2009), to express an identity (Lee, 2012), and to help highlight otherwise obscure and seemingly mundane aspects of one’s life (Yau and Schneider, 2009). As everything is so visible, and users know that they may be seen, it is logical to wonder: to what extent do we see memarketing (the act of carefully presenting oneself in accordance to how one wants to be seen by others) or actual disclosure on Facebook profiles? Are all users prone to memarketing, are none or only some? At this point, there is not yet sufficient research to draw conclusions for all types of users. Two studies appear to indicate that there may be at least some me-marketing involved. Firstly, Zywica and Danowski’s (2008) study on 614 US students suggests that individuals who are introverted, not popular offline and have low levels of self-esteem (SE) tried to look popular on Facebook and thus misrepresented themselves. Secondly, the previously mentioned research by Buffardi and Campbell (2008) also suggests that there may sometimes be me-marketing involved, as narcissists were found to more often upload portfolio pictures as their profile picture. This is furthermore strengthened by a recent study by Carpenter (2012) on a convenience sample of 292 US Facebook users (74% of which were college students), providing empirical support on the link between narcissism and self-promotion behaviors on Facebook. The study by Back et al. (2010) on 236 American students and German Facebook users, on the other hand, indicates that also truthful representation and disclosure may arise. The study showed that ratings of the user’s characteristics by strangers looking at the subject’s Facebook page indeed matched with ratings by the user himself and with ratings by his friends. This can be supported using suggestions from Walther et al.’s (2009) research on 115 US students that statements made by friends are considered more trustworthy by users and can override statements of the owner. Users trying to present themselves in a too positive (or negative) way would thus be counteracted by their friends, leading to realistic Facebook profiles. Weisbuch et al.’s (2009) finding that users who disclose a great deal of personal information on Facebook also did so during faceto-face interviews also appears to support the second hypothesis, but was unfortunately only conducted on 37 US students. Then there is research on disclosure that provides suggestions, but no firm conclusions, on the frequency of me-marketing behavior. In a small-scale study on 67 US Facebook users, Alter and Oppenheimer (2009) found that the level of disclosure was linked with the size and spacing of a SNS’s font. This font can increase or decrease disclosure, but whether that leads to more or less inaccurate information being posted on the Facebook page is unclear. This is also the case with other research on the level of disclosure, such as Karl et al.’s (2010) analysis of SNS communication among 346 US and 290 German students. They found users high on conscientiousness, agreeableness, and emotional stability to be less likely to report problematic behavior such as substance abuse and sexual content on their Facebook profile. There also appears to be a cultural effect, with American students being more inclined to report such behavior than their German peers. However, whether this represents reality (more substance abuse by American students) or if this is only a mask yet remains unclear. Similarly, Nosko et al. (2010) analyzed 400 accessible
US Facebook profiles and found that disclosure was negatively correlated with age, but the content of the disclosure was not sufficiently accounted for. Christofides et al.’s (2009) study on 343 US students found that those in need for popularity also disclosed more and Moreno et al. (2011) analyzed 200 user profiles to find that users who referenced depression, and had received responses from their friends on it, were reinforced in that behavior and more likely to disclose depressive symptoms again.
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