Cyber Psychology: Week 3 - The Online Self 2 PDF

CYBER PSYCHOLOGY WEEK 3: THE ONLINE SELF 2 MOTIVATIONS VS STRATEGIES Although self-presentation motivation may seem directly related to the various self-presentation strategies that an individual might employ, there are instances in which this is not the case Just because someone is highly mo...

CYBER PSYCHOLOGY WEEK 3: THE ONLINE SELF 2 MOTIVATIONS VS STRATEGIES Although self-presentation motivation may seem directly related to the various self-presentation strategies that an individual might employ, there are instances in which this is not the case Just because someone is highly motivated to manage their impression does not necessarily mean that they are able to do so CONTEXT Context influences which strategies people use online (Kuznekoff, 2012) Researchers examined three platforms: Facebook, a multiplayer first-person shooter game, and FatSecret (a social support community for weight loss) Facebook users primarily made use of ingratiation, in line with the goal of social networking Players of the first-person shooter game mostly chose intimidation Those who were part of the FatSecret community were more likely to use supplication to receive help and advice AUDIENCE Most of the time, we are able to see our audience when managing their impression of us in an offline setting Knowing who is watching and listening allows us to tailor our self-presentation to that particular individual or group We also receive quick feedback from our audience (e.g., an arched brow, an approving nod) Online, however, the audience is much more difficult to pin down AUDIENCE Facebook was initially created as a social network for college students to connect with fellow students at the same college However, the network now includes family members, distant acquaintances, friends of friends, work colleagues, high school classmates, and even strangers who happen to share the same interests A wallpost photo of a party you attended last night might not be what you’d like your grandmother or employer to see This phenomenon is known as context collapse, or "the flattening of multiple audiences into a single context" AUDIENCE How do people navigate context collapse? People may create one account on a socially oriented network to present the social self, but also create an account on LinkedIn to present a more professional self People may also opt for a “lowest common denominator” approach where self- presentation is watered down to avoid offending anyone in the overlapping audiences Some sites may allow for the segregation of audience, such that a user could designate different people as “close friends” vs “friends” AUTHENTICITY To what extent to people’s public self-presentations reflect how they privately see and think about themselves? Individuals who present an insincere or inauthentic impression to others run the risk of being exposed as a fake or liar if their attempts are discovered (i.e., they may be held accountable for creating a false self-impression) This is especially so if future interactions are anticipated or if audiences have knowledge of their past ON THE WHOLE... Engaging in selective self-presentation online may help diminish the gap between one’s actual and ideal/ought self, and reduce feelings of discomfort in the short-term This may not necessarily translate to any real change offline, and so may not be a most feasible long-term solution ON THE WHOLE... However, when an individual publicly announces an intention or “stakes a claim” to an identity, they may experience additional pressures to make good on their claims and turn it into a reality (i.e., self-improvement) E.g., Telling others that you’re a pilates girly may provide you with the motivation to work towards the outcome of regularly attending pilates classes APPLICATIONS Questions to consider: Does this illustrate Higgins’ multiple selves? Why or why not? Does this illustrate Goffman’s performed self? Why or why not? How does self-monitoring theory come into play? Any other applications of theories from today’s class?  ONLINE CUES & IMPRESSION FORMATION SOCIAL CUES What information do you use to form an initial impression of a person you’ve just met? Social cues are bits of information gleaned from a person or situation (e.g., dress sense, hairstyle, body language, vocal tone, etc.) Offline, these cues convey a wide range of information which enable us to interpret and respond to others, as well as form judgements about them SOCIAL CUES People tend to leap to conclusions about others quickly, even with few cues to guide them (Asch, 1946) A man described as “intelligent, skillful, industrious, warm, determined, practical and cautious” was quickly assumed by participants to be honest, good-natured, wise, popular, sociable and imaginative However, when the word “warm” was substituted for the word “cold”, participants assumed that the man was unlikable, unpopular, and disagreeable SOCIAL CUES “Warm” and “cold” are heavily weighted central traits that are used in the formation of a first impression The cues used to infer warmth tend to be nonverbal in nature (e.g., facial expressions, vocal patterns, body posture, gestures, eye contact) Words tend to take a back seat to other cues when drawing conclusions about warmth and coldness — unfortunately such cues have historically been less available online SOCIAL CUES In the early days of the Internet, the self had to be almost entirely expressed in written text Most theories argued that nonverbal and other traditional social cues were crucial for effective communication, self-presentation and impression management Much of the original research on impressions of warmth and coldness therefore showed that people tend to seem cooler, more task-oriented and irritable online than in person SOCIAL CUES Participants in a face-to-face meeting expressed more agreement while participants in a computer-mediated meeting expressed more disagreement and made less attempts to relieve a tense situation (Hiltz & Turoff, 1978) Participants who took the MBTI from the perspective of their colleague (with whom they had only communicated via email) were more likely to indicate that they were thinking rather than feeling types (Fuller, 1996) SOCIAL INFORMATION PROCESSING According to social information processing (SIP) theory (Walther, 1992), the loss of nonverbal cues in computer-mediated communication (CMC) is not inherently detrimental to defining our impression of others Individuals are able to use whatever cues they have at their disposal in order to form impressions — that is, they are able to compensate for absent social cues through other means However, more exchanges are required over time in order to accumulate information about an online partner, since each exchange bears relatively less information than do offline exchanges EMOTICONS & IMPRESSIONS Even in a text-only environment, people find new tools for self-expression and self- presentation Emoticons refer to the use of typographic symbols to depict an emotion or sentiment. Using just a keyboard, people are able to smile, frown, wink, and laugh online (e.g., ;) / :) /