Social responses to Facebook status updates: The role of extraversion and social anxiety

Abstract

Posting, reading, and responding to status updates is an integral part of many peoples' daily lives. However, the role of personality in predicting social responses to status updates remains largely unexplored. Based on the social enhancement and the social compensation hypothesis, we assessed the role of extraversion and social anxiety in predicting social responses to status updates. Moreover, we explored the influence of valence in this context. Capitalizing on the assets of a multimethod approach, personality was assessed with self-reports, and valence was evaluated by independent raters. Social responses to status updates were captured (1) by observing direct social feedback (i.e. likes and commenters) and (2) by informant reports on the interpersonal appraisal of participants’ status updates by their friends. In a German and a US sample, for direct social feedback neither extraversion nor social anxiety emerged as significant predictors. However, analyses of the informant reports showed that status updates of more socially anxious individuals were appreciated more by their friends. Furthermore, results pointed to the importance of valence in this context; revealing associations between valence and direct social feedback, valence and extraversion, and a moderation effect of personality on the association between valence and likes in the US sample.