Self-presentation In Social Media Research Articles

‘Know your role’: Dwayne Johnson & the performance of contemporary stardom

ABSTRACTContemporary film stardom is an intensely intertextual phenomenon, articulated not only through the range of social media platforms available to celebrities and their marketing teams, but also through the increasingly synergistic bodies of work of the modern Hollywood star. More than this, the modern star image is a performance, one which is in constant process of construction and negotiation. In this article, I explore how these factors intersect in the star persona of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. Drawing on a framework of literature dealing with celebrity, social media and professional wrestling, I contend that not only is Johnson’s remarkable crossover success in the film industry connected to his mastery of social media self-presentation, but also that this must be examined in the context of his background in the unique performative environment of professional wrestling. Using examples from Johnson’s wrestling career and instructive exemplars of his employment of social media, I argue that Johnson’s grounding in the unique wrestling practice of kayfabe has informed his engagement with the malleable public-private terrain of social media.

Использование профессиональных фотографий для самопрезентации в социальных медиа как показатель личностного перфекционизма

The article presents the results of the study of personal characteristics of people who use professional photos for self-presentation in social media. Particular attention is paid to the study of the respondent’s inclination to perfectionism as a personal characteristic. Perfectionism is considered in the study as a trait that has destructive and adaptive forms, expressed in high personal standards, experiencing the disparity between the real and the ideal “I”, a high level of organization. The study involved 100 respondents, aged 22 to 39 years, using professional photographs for self-presentation in social media. The respondents were divided into two groups. The first group consisted of people who use exclusively professional photos for self-presentation in social media. The second group included people, in whose personal profiles professional images make up no more than 15% of the total. To study the personal characteristics of the respondents the perfectionist self-presentation scale (A. Zolotareva adaptation), the narcissistic personality traits questionnaire (O. Shamshikova, N. Klepikova adaptation), the interpersonal personality diagnosis test by T. Leary, the Big Five personality questionnaire by R. McCrae, P. Costa (A. Khromov adaptation), the Dark Triad short questionnaire were used (M. Egorova, M. Sitnikova, O. Parshikova adaptation). The study showed that people using professional photos for self-presentation in social media are characterized by an increased level of perfectionist self-presentation, authoritarianism, aggression, suspicion, subordination, extraversion, control, narcissism, machiavellianism, psychopathy. As a result of factor analysis, six personal factors of perfectionism were identified, which were named: “Lies for Admiration”, “Polarity in Interpersonal Interaction”, “Rigid Demonstration of Superiority”, “Need for Attention”, “Narcissism”, “Submission for Acceptance”. It is shown that the perfectionism of the respondents is associated only with those narcissistic characteristics that describe the inability to objectively perceive themselves and build constructive relationships with other people.

Исследование взаимосвязи личностных особенностей подростков с их поведением в виртуальном пространстве (на примере социальной сети «ВКонтакте»)

The paper presents and discusses outcomes of the first stage of a research project on the role of social media in the life of modern adolescents that was carried out on basis of the MSUPE Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Modern Childhood in 2015—2018. The issue of adolescents’ self-presentation in social media is one of the key trends in modern research, and in Russian psychological and pedagogical science there is clearly a lack of works on various aspects of adolescent online behaviour and interaction, in particular, in social media websites. The sample of our empirical study consisted of 88 individuals aged 15—18 years, and the following techniques were used: a modified version of A.Ye. Lichko’s character accentuations questionnaire; Stephenson’s Q-Sort technique; the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory; the Tomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument; Eyesenck’s Self-Evaluation of Mental States technique; content analysis of VKontakte webpages. As it was revealed, personality traits of the adolescents were closely interrelated with the structure of their profiles in the VK website. For instance, numerous correlations were found between various parameters of personal webpages and such personality traits as character accentuations, interpersonal conflicts, preferred type of conflict behaviour, as well as with levels of anxiety, rigidity, aggression and frustration.

Emerging adults' social media self-presentation and identity development at college transition: Mindfulness as a moderator

Scholars have described how youth perform online self-presentation and its implications for identity formation. However, only a few studies have statistically examined the associations between self-presentation on social media and identity development at major developmental transitions. Also, although mindfulness is found to moderate the relationship between social media use and psychological outcomes, its moderating role has not been investigated in self-presentation/identity research. Drawing on a multi-faceted model of online self-presentation and identity theories, we explored how four dimensions of social media self-presentation related to college freshmen's self-esteem and identity clarity. Survey data from 219 college freshmen between the ages of 18 and 23 (Mage=18.29, S.D.=0.75; 74% female; 41% White, 38% Black) showed that positive online self-presentation was related to higher self-esteem. It was also related to higher identity clarity but only among mindful freshmen. Authentic online self-presentation was related to higher self-esteem, also for mindful freshmen only. Presenting personal/intimate information was associated with lower identity clarity. The negative relationships between such self-presentation and the two identity outcomes were stronger among less mindful freshmen. Findings revealed the diverse associations between online self-presentation and identity development at the college transition.

How gender-stereotypical are selfies? A content analysis and comparison with magazine adverts

Selfies (self-portrait photographs often taken with a camera phone) are popularly used for self-presentation in social media like Facebook and Instagram. These modern user-generated self-portraits have the potential to draw a more versatile picture of the genders instead of reproducing traditional gender stereotypes often presented in mainstream media and advertising. To investigate the degree of gender stereotyping in selfies, a random sample of 500 selfies uploaded on Instagram (50% representing females, 50% males) was drawn and subjected to quantitative content analysis. The degree of gender stereotyping in the selfies was measured using Goffman's (1979) and Kang's (1997) gender display categories (e.g. feminine touch, lying posture, withdrawing gaze, sparse clothing) plus three social media-related categories (kissing pout, muscle presentation, faceless portrayal). Additionally, gender stereotyping in selfies was directly compared to the degree of gender stereotyping in magazine adverts measured in the same way (Döring & Pöschl, 2006). Results reveal that male and female Instagram users' selfies not only reflect traditional gender stereotypes, but are even more stereotypical than magazine adverts.