Profile Owners Research Articles

Displaying health cues on online dating profiles: How do gender, smoking, and COVID-19 vaccination statuses influence impression and dating decision?

Recent COVID-19 online dating research have investigated the strategies people used during the pandemic dating, however, the relationship between displaying health cues on online dating profiles and making online dating decisions has been understudied. A 2 (Profile Owner/Viewer’s Gender: Male vs. Female) x 2 (Smoking Status: Non-Smoker vs. Smoker) x 2 (COVID-19 Vaccination status: Not Vaccinated vs. Vaccinated) between-subjects online experiment (N = 250) was conducted to examine the impact of gender, smoking, and COVID-19 vaccination status on online dating decision. Results showed non-smoking profile owners were more likely to receive the video chat invitation compared with smoking profile owners. Male profile viewers were more likely to send message, video chat, meet offline, make short-term and long-term dating decisions toward profile owners compared with female profile viewers. Vaccinated females and unvaccinated males were more likely to receive the offline meeting invitation. An online dating profile owner’s perceived intelligence and perceived similarity would vary as a function of his/her vaccination status and smoking status. In addition, loneliness moderated the relationship between smoking/vaccination status and long/short term dating decisions. This study contributed to the literature of online dating and provided a roadmap for the online dating website designers.

Creativity, Expectancy Violations, and Impression Formation: Effects of Novelty and Appropriateness in Online Dating Profile Texts

ABSTRACT This experimental study investigates how novelty and appropriateness – the two criteria of creativity – affect impressions formed of online dating profile owners. More specifically, it examines how both criteria influence perceived romantic attractiveness, and whether expectancy violations and person perceptions (i.e., originality and oddness) mediate these effects. Participants (N = 295) were members of a dating platform who were presented with dating profile texts that met one or both criteria: (a) not novel and appropriate, (b) novel and appropriate, or (c) novel and inappropriate. In line with the expectations, results show that novel texts are less expected, and that their writers are perceived as more original and, in turn, as more romantically attractive. Writers of novel and non-novel texts are evaluated as equally attractive though, suggesting that appropriateness is a stronger determinant of romantic attractiveness. That is, novel texts that are inappropriate violate expectations more negatively than those that are appropriate, increasing oddness and, accordingly, decreasing romantic attractiveness. Findings suggest that novelty and appropriateness are two important creativity dimensions that explain effects of dating profile texts on impression formation. Moreover, we show that the expectancy violations theory is a useful framework to study creativity and impression formation in online dating.

Perceived Attractiveness of Sexualized Versus Non-sexualized Females on Online Dating Apps

Sexualization on social media has become a popular and noteworthy trend. While some scholars have examined the influence of sexualization on ratings of others attractiveness, previous research has not included direct comparisons between genders, and most studies focused on Western contexts. Therefore, this study investigates the perceived attractiveness of sexualized versus non-sexualized females on online dating apps in China. A total of 218 participants, including 104 males and 114 females aged 18-30 were recruited to complete the online questionnaire and evaluate the attractiveness of either the sexualized or non-sexualized female profile owners. The results indicated certain negative impacts of sexualization on others attractiveness ratings. Both males and females evaluated sexualized female profile owners as possessing less task attractiveness, and males also rated them less socially and physically attractive. However, the gender disparity signifies that women may adopt a sexualized image as an ideal self, intensifying self-objectification and causing negative effects.

How COVID-19 Changed Self-Presentation on Instagram and its Relation to User Well-Being

Abstract Social media use increased during the COVID-19 pandemic with platforms providing an important forum for communication and self-expression. In this study, we explore shifts in online posting behaviors and self-presentation following the onset of lockdown. Content analysis of active Instagram accounts (n = 73) was conducted for the 3-month period before and immediately following the start of lockdown in the UK, and compared to psychological well-being, social media dependency and motives for online self-presentation during lockdown. Changes in the nature of images and captions used by profile owners were found following the start of lockdown, with more selfies and throwback photographs of past events being posted. Images in contexts depicting users as ‘social’, and positive or explanatory message captioning decreased during lockdown. Limited evidence was found to support the hypothesis that images posted were predictive of psychological well-being in lockdown. More followers and the degree to which online portrayals represented ‘real-self’ appeared more critical to well-being during lockdown.

The costs of sexualization: Examining viewers’ perceptions of sexualized profile owners in online dating.

The costs of sexualization: Examining viewers’ perceptions of sexualized profile owners in online dating.

Post-Story: Influence of Introducing Story Feature on Social Media Posts

ABSTRACT Driven by the need to enhance user traffic on social media (SM) platforms for increasing their advertising revenues, SM platforms are experimenting with new content creation features. However, it is unclear if such initiatives are also beneficial for SM profile owners such as influencers, who are the prime content creators on the SM platforms who use SM posts to build their influence within their network of followers. Our study investigates the effect of introducing one such new SM feature: the “story” on the creation and consumption of SM posts. Leveraging social penetration theory, we hypothesize the influence of introducing story feature on (1) the frequency of SM post creation by profile owners and (2) the extent of follower engagement with SM posts. Employing a quasi-experimental design, we find that the introduction of the story feature reduces the frequency of SM post creation, but the enhanced self-disclosure through the story feature increases follower engagement with the SM posts. However, these effects are moderated by the situating culture of the SM communities: while low-power-distance cultures value profile owners’ self-disclosure, high-power-distance cultures exhibit a mixed influence. Advancing literature on social penetration theory and SM user engagement, our study demonstrates that new self-disclosive SM content creation features do not necessarily benefit all the concerned stakeholders and that the effectiveness of such features might vary from one community to another. Hence, the intended impact of introducing new SM features needs to be carefully evaluated by SM platforms in a holistic manner.

Supplemental Material for The Costs of Sexualization: Examining Viewers’ Perceptions of Sexualized Profile Owners in Online Dating

Supplemental Material for The Costs of Sexualization: Examining Viewers’ Perceptions of Sexualized Profile Owners in Online Dating

What Elements of an Online Social Networking Profile Predict Target- Rater Agreement in Personality Impressions?

Social-Networking Websites (SNWs) like Facebook and MySpace are playing an increasingly prevalent role in everyday social interactions. But very little is known about the effectiveness of the various profile elements in conveying information about the personality of the profile owner. Here we examine 5,303 impressions made on the basis of a specially designed social networking website (http://www.YouJustGetMe.com) and on the basis of Facebook profiles. Our findings suggest that profile owners are generally seen by others as they see themselves; that when raters are judging unknown targets, rater-target agreement is stronger for female (vs. male) targets and for female (vs. male) raters; and several specific elements of profiles are associated with increased or diminished levels of rater-target impression agreement. The findings are important because they are the first to show how impression agreement may be affected by specific elements in SNW profiles.

Is ‘New’ Always ‘Nicer’? Examining the Influence of Innovation in Social Media

With a view to enhance content creation and increase user engagement, social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have been experimenting with new innovative features. We investigate the effect of introducing one such innovative social media feature — the “story” on the communication between the profile owners and users through the primary social media channel – the “posts”. Grounding our arguments in the resource allocation and social penetration theories and employing a quasi-experimental difference-in-difference method, we examine how introduction of the innovative story feature on a popular social media platform influences (1) the frequency of profile owners’ information sharing through social media posts, and (2) the extent of follower engagement through feedback in terms of linking and commenting on the posts. Our results show that introduction of the story feature positively influences both. However, this influence is moderated by the cultural orientation of the situating social media community. We find that low-power-distance cultures, which value profile owners’ self-disclosure, exhibit a significant positive impact, whereas high-power-distance cultures exhibit no significant influence. We delineate the implications of our findings for both research and practice.

Impression formation on online dating sites: Effects of language errors in profile texts on perceptions of profile owners’ attractiveness

This article presents two experimental studies investigating the impact of language errors in online dating profiles on impression formation. A first study examined whether language errors have a negative effect on perceptions of attraction and dating intention and whether this effect is moderated by the presence of visual information, that is, the profile picture. This 2 (Language Errors/No Language Errors) × 2 (Visible/Blurred Picture) experiment revealed that language errors negatively affect perceptions of social and romantic attraction and that a visible picture on a profile positively affects perceptions of physical attraction. Study 2 focused on mechanical, rule-based, and informal language errors, which can each be attributed to different personality traits. Mechanical and rule-based errors lead to lower scores on, respectively, perceived attentiveness and intelligence, which in turn lead to lower attraction and dating intention scores. These results highlight the importance of error-free language use as a cue for attractiveness.

Population size and self-reported characteristics and sexual preferences of men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) in Germany based on social network data.

BackgroundIn the absence of detailed information about the population size and behaviour data of men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM), the estimation of prevalence rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and the design of public health interventions become difficult. The aim of the present study is to estimate the lower boundary of age-specific population sizes and retrieve self-reported information from this population.MethodsWe used publicly accessible data from a large online dating and social network website for MSM in Germany to retrieve data on the age and regional distribution of profiles. The profiles were also stratified by their information on the preferred position during anal intercourse, safer sex, and sexual identity.ResultsA total of 464,873 user profiles correspond to an average 15.2 profiles per 1,000 male inhabitants in Germany, varying between 7.6 and 45.6 across federal states. Although the information on the absolute numbers for different age groups is limited by the search engine, age-specific relative frequencies were found to increase from 12.9 in the age group of 18 to 20 year olds to 24.6 profiles per 1,000 male inhabitants in the 28 to 30 year olds. The data shows age-specific trends for safer sex with an increasing easiness of reporting “never” engaging in safer sex or stating that safer sex “needs discussion” with increasing age. Around one third of profile owners stated to be versatile with respect to the preferred position in anal intercourse. All other options (“only bottom”, “more bottom”, “only top”, “more top”) were preferred equally likely by roughly 10% of profile owners, respectively.ConclusionsOnline social network or dating sites can provide some information about specific populations in the absence of other data sources. The presented results are the first to report age-specific rates of MSM per 1,000 male inhabitants in Germany and may be useful to estimate age-specific prevalence or incidence rates as well as to inform health promotion activities and modelling studies for MSM in Germany.

When more is more? The impact of breadth and depth of information disclosure on attributional confidence about and interpersonal attraction to a social network site profile owner

Social network sites (SNSs) provide users with ample opportunity to share information about themselves and to engage in social browsing to learn about others. This article reports results from two experiments (with participants from the U.S.) that investigate the impacts of breadth and depth of information disclosed in a profile on viewers’ attributional confidence about and interpersonal attraction to the profile owner. In the first experiment (n = 320), participants viewed a profile containing either low or high breadth of information. Analyses indicated that, higher breadth of information shared in the profile increased interpersonal attraction and that attributional confidence mediated this relationship. The second experiment (n = 537) tested the respective influences of breadth (low vs. high) and depth of disclosure (low vs. high) in a profile on perceivers’ attributional confidence and interpersonal attraction. Analyses indicated that, while increasing the breadth of information had a positive impact on interpersonal attraction to profile owners, increasing the depth of information reduced attraction. Additionally, there was a significant interaction between breadth and depth of information in predicting attributional confidence; increasing the depth of information shared in an SNS profile enhanced attributional confidence only when the breadth of information shared was low.

Taalaccommodatie in online datingprofielen

Abstract Language accommodation in online dating profiles: Effects of education level and type of dating site on language use This study investigates whether online dating profile owners accommodate their language use based on the type of dating site used. Following Communication Accommodation Theory, we expect that highly educated online daters’ language use on a dating site designed explicitly for the highly educated is different from language use of highly educated people on a general dating site with users of both low and high education levels. Specifically, highly educated dating site users will accommodate their language use depending on the dating site they use. Based on an analysis of 1570 profile texts from two Dutch dating sites, we found that profiles of highly educated users on a general dating site differed from those written by highly educated daters on the high-education dating site on some but not all measures of lexical complexity and on the amount of language errors made. On the high-education dating site, the highly educated daters used some more linguistic elements that are associated with a high education level than those on the general site. This suggests that minor contextual differences in expected audience can already induce linguistic accommodation.

Friendship acceptance on Facebook: men prefer cold calls from attractive women while women favour unattractive friends

Our study broadens an experiment conducted by Wang et al. (2010). In their study, screenshots of fictitious Facebook profiles were presented to participants of a university class who were then asked whether they would be willing to accept a friendship. In contrast to the original study, we aimed to investigate actual behaviour of social media users instead of mere intentions. Therefore, we sent out actual friendship requests from male or female profile owners who were either attractive or unattractive. The requests were sent to a sample of 800 Facebook users. We could show that about 10% of these users responded to the cold calls. In line with Wang et al. (2010), male users accepted more invitations from attractive female profile owners. However, in contrast to Wang's findings, female users accepted invitations from unattractive profile owners rather than from attractive profile owners, regardless of the profile owners' gender.

Friendship acceptance on Facebook: Men prefer cold calls from attractive women while women favor unattractive friends

Our study broadens an experiment conducted by Wang et al. (2010). In their study, screenshots of fictitious Facebook profiles were presented to participants of a university class who were then asked whether they would be willing to accept a friendship. In contrast to the original study, we aimed to investigate actual behaviour of social media users instead of mere intentions. Therefore, we sent out actual friendship requests from male or female profile owners who were either attractive or unattractive. The requests were sent to a sample of 800 Facebook users. We could show that about 10% of these users responded to the cold calls. In line with Wang et al. (2010), male users accepted more invitations from attractive female profile owners. However, in contrast to Wang's findings, female users accepted invitations from unattractive profile owners rather than from attractive profile owners, regardless of the profile owners' gender.

Attacks by Anons: A Content Analysis of Aggressive Posts, Victim Responses, and Bystander Interventions on a Social Media Site

Cyberbullying is an area of great anxiety related to adolescents’ use of social media. Although the affordances of social media sites often allow aggressive online content to be stored and searched, the actual content of aggressive posts has not been explored in great detail. The purpose of this content analysis was to examine discursive strategies used in aggressive posts, responses, and bystander comments on a social media site that is both popular among young adolescents and a known online site of cyberbullying behavior. A total of 993 question–answer dyads were analyzed. In this sample, aggressors are almost exclusively anonymous. Posters of aggressive content demean profile owners on the basis of social status, romantic success, emotional instability, perceived physical attractiveness, and age. Most profile owners attracted a comment from at least one supportive bystander. In general, bystander comments either attacked aggressive posters for their cruelty or their cowardice at being anonymous or supported profile owners by affirming their physical attractiveness or social competence. A power differential between aggressor and victim is a key feature that distinguishes bullying from other social conflicts among adolescents. Results show that, in the absence of physical power, online aggressors use discursive strategies to affirm their dominance over their victims. In turn, victims of online aggression, as well as supportive bystanders, use a variety of methods to attempt to resolve the power differential. Our findings have implications for development of digital citizenship and anti-cyberbullying initiatives that promote effective bystander behavior online.

Performing the Norm

Semi-structured interviews (N=21) with young SNS „Rate“ profile owners were carried out in order to analyse the main trends in visual self-presentation strategies that 10-12-year-old Estonians use, and have perceived to be in use by others, on SNS. The aim of the study was to capture the role that the norms and rules of mediated culture, as well as the online peer group, have on the visual self-presentation strategies of the young on online environments. The findings of the study indicate that the youth are well aware of the rules and schemas prevalent in the online environments and form their self-presentation according to these norms of the peer culture. Although the understanding of what is considered „cute” enough to be uploaded on the SNS is in constant flux, the young are very conscious of publishing only the very best images of themselves. Thus, I suggest that the impression management on SNS consists of various strategically calculated acts in order to create a desired persona. A four-staged model of visual impression management used by the pre-teens on SNS is provided.

What causes more mistrust: profile owners deleting user-generated content or website contributors masking their identities?

ABSTRACTPeople regularly rely on user-generated contributions to websites to inform their opinions about people, companies, organizations, and products. This study examines how two website affordances uniquely affect the evaluation of user-generated content. Specifically, an experiment was conducted that varied whether a website (a) affords profile owners the ability to delete user-generated contributions or (b) verifies the identity of users who post evaluations of profile owners. The results suggest that although deleting user-generated content is viewed as more problematic, both forms of information control independently affect how viewers evaluate a website and the content it hosts. The findings help establish the conditions under which certain forms of information control differentially produce uncertainty and mistrust and thus have direct implications for warranting theory.

Beware of Selfies: The Impact of Photo Type on Impression Formation Based on Social Networking Profiles.

Users of social networking sites such as Facebook frequently post self-portraits on their profiles. While research has begun to analyze the motivations for posting such pictures, less is known about how selfies are evaluated by recipients. Although producers of selfies typically aim to create a positive impression, selfies may also be regarded as narcissistic and therefore fail to achieve the intended goal. The aim of this study is to examine the potentially ambivalent reception of selfies compared to photos taken by others based on the Brunswik lens model Brunswik (1956). In a between-subjects online experiment (N = 297), Facebook profile mockups were shown which differed with regard to picture type (selfie vs. photo taken by others), gender of the profile owner (female vs. male), and number of individuals within a picture (single person vs. group). Results revealed that selfies were indeed evaluated more negatively than photos taken by others. Persons in selfies were rated as less trustworthy, less socially attractive, less open to new experiences, more narcissistic and more extroverted than the same persons in photos taken by others. In addition, gender differences were observed in the perception of pictures. Male profile owners were rated as more narcissistic and less trustworthy than female profile owners, but there was no significant interaction effect of type of picture and gender. Moreover, a mediation analysis of presumed motives for posting selfies revealed that negative evaluations of selfie posting individuals were mainly driven by the perceived motivation of impression management. Findings suggest that selfies are likely to be evaluated less positively than producers of selfies might suppose.

Estimation method of the cohesion degree for the users’ profiles of social network based on open data

The purpose of research was to study the existing methods of determining the degree of cohesion of two users of social network, identifying their shortcomings and developing a new method. The research identified shortcomings of existing methods and proposed a new method for assessing the degree of cohesion of social network profiles based on open data from a social network. Under the degree of cohesion of users’ profiles is understood the probability of communication (interaction) of profile owners in real life, it is calculated for two users of the social network and expressed in percent. The work of the method is demonstrated on the example of the social network “In contact”. This method includes the sequence of the following stages: the first stage is data collection about users of the social network with API and the formation of tuples of users’ profile characteristics. A tuple of characteristics of social network profiles is the data, collected for each user, stored in a structured form. The next step is the analysis of the collected information. For each characteristic of the tuple of profiles, i.e. the possible element of interaction of users in the social network, the coefficient of cohesion by the characteristic is calculated. In addition, for each feature, its informativeness is calculated, i.e. how important is this or that feature in this social network. At the final stage, the results are generated, using the formula for the probability of communication between two users, derived during the investigation. Obtained as a result of the application of the method, the probability of communication between two users can be used to optimize the activities of the operative-search services and special bodies. In addition, the received degree of cohesion of two users can be interpreted as the probability of a channel of information leakage between them. The role of the user of the method can be any private or state organization that cares about the security of corporate data and commercial secrets, the operative-search service, as well as an organization that investigates cybercrimes and information security incidents.