For this assignment, I chose to break down the anatomy of the Facebook profile, and to analyze my friends’ view of her own. I originally submitted this assignment Tuesday morning, but when I returned to the blog to begin commenting, I couldn’t find mine anywhere, so apparently I never actually posted it.
A typical Facebook page has many different aspects that can tell you a lot about a person - assuming they choose to utilize all the features and are honest with their responses. The first, and usually the most ‘important’ part of a person’s profile (at least in terms of interpersonal communication) is the profile picture. It is the starting point of anyone’s profile, and can convey a lot about the person. The profile picture, along with all the other photos of a person in their profile, is probably the largest example of selective self-presentation on Facebook. Next to the profile picture and directly under the user’s name, is the Status. This is similar to an away message on an instant messaging program, as it gives the person a chance to let their friends know what they are doing. While sometimes useful, it is often obsolete, as it is time sensitive, and is typically not accurate unless the user is of the rare breed that updates it regularly. The next major facet of the profile is the “basic” information: Networks, Sex, Sexual Orientation, Relationship Status, Looking For, Birthday, and Religious Views. This section of the Facebook profile is probably the most accurate and truthful part of the entire profile. Most people don’t lie about these basic characteristics of themselves, aside from the ever-popular “I’m married to my best friend” joke. Scanning down the page, the next thing you’ll find is the Mini-Feed. It’s impossible to lie in this section, as it is Facebook controlled content, and it simply displays what you have actually done. It is possible however, to selectively self-present here, as the user can “X” out certain things they have done so that their actions aren’t displayed. Contact Info is the next part of the Facebook profile. Many people choose not to display all of their contact info. Most people will simply show the e-mail address they registered with (it is mandatory to display this) and possibly their AIM screen name or phone number. Occasionally an overzealous user will display their address and phone number for everyone to see, but this typically isn’t a great idea. Directly under Contact Info is Personal Info. This is where you will most likely learn the most about the user, as they can display their favorite interests, music, TV shows, movies, books, quotes, and where they can tell you all “About Me”. It seems like there is a great deal of variation as to the amount of information displayed in this section. Some users will list every single thing they are a fan of, as well as give you a six paragraph autobiography to boot. Others will simply list one or two interests without bothering to use punctuation; it basically depends on the personality of the person. Overall the Facebook profile is manipulated a lot by users to display themselves as favorably as possible, thus the most prevalent theory at work on Facebook is the selective self-presentation theory.
To test this theory and to see if it was an accurate attribution, I questioned one of my friends about her Facebook profile and had her rank the accuracy of her statements. Her rankings of each part of her profile coincided with my original thoughts of her page. For her profile picture she stated that it was a 5, saying that “It’s actually me, so it has to be accurate.” This is obviously true, and while she didn’t quite realize that there are varying degrees of honesty when it comes to self-presentation, I would say the picture is very accurate as to her looks and personality. As for her status which was “Alex is finally sleeping”, she ranked it a 1, because as she put it “I’m obviously not sleeping right now.” This is a prime example of how inaccurate the status can be, as things can change so quickly and a lot of users don’t consistently update it. My friend also decided to not show anything in her Mini-Feed, selectively choosing not to make her recent activity public. She ranked all of her Basic Info a 5, except for her Relationship Status. She had this ranked at 1, because she is one of the users who is “married to” a female friend. Her ranks of 5 for the rest of the basics confirm that she was telling the truth, as most people seem to do in this section. For Contact Info she ranked her honesty as a 5, which is true. She shared her e-mail address, AIM screen name and cell phone number, which were all accurate. For Personal Info, she ranked her Interests at 4, and I would have to agree, as she listed some things, but wasn’t exactly too detailed, and I’m sure she’s interested in more than she shares. As for Music, she ranked this a 3. She only had two music groups listed, and she attributes the 3 to the fact that she “left a lot out because I don’t like them as much.” This exemplifies selective self-presentation; while I can confirm that she is in fact a big fan of the two groups she chose to list, she decided that the others were less important and thus didn’t deserve to be listed. She ranked her TV favorites as a 4, but then went on to say “that’s basically it, and I’m embarrassed by the others I like.” This strongly suggests selective self-presentation theory, as she has other favorites, but decided that they aren’t part of how she wants to convey herself to others. She only listed one Movie favorite, ranking the category’s accuracy a 5. I can attest that she does enjoy other movies, but she obviously deduced that they play a less important role in her personality and taste. She also might feel that listing one movie that she is extremely fond of makes a more powerful statement than listing 20 that she simply enjoyed. As for her Favorite Books, her profile says “I don’t like to read.” She marked this a 3. I attribute that middling ranking to the fact that she does enjoy some books such as the Harry Potter series, but the short list of books she enjoys is outweighed by her overall “dislike of reading”. As for Favorite Quotes, Alex has “I am the worst ever at remembering quotes.” She ranked this response as a 5, and I would have to agree that she is awful at remembering them, and when she attempts to recall one it is always way off. In her About Me section, Alex is a little more dishonest, but not in a harmful or bad way. She simply lists: “I’m Alex. I hate Facebook.” While she certainly is Alex, I doubt she hates Facebook, as she keeps an updated profile and visits the site frequently. She said the accuracy was a 2, and I would have to agree.
So once again, I feel the major theory at play on Facebook is the Selective Self-Presentation Theory. Most people are not downright dishonest; they are simply picking and choosing what truths they want to allow others to know about them.
1 comment:
Tyler,
Great job on explaining each aspect of your friend's Facebook profile; this is a very comprehensive post. I agree with each of your judgments as to the features on Facebook that are easiest to lie or selectively present oneself with. For example, I found it funny that your friend said "I'm embarrassed by the others I like" because I think most people put up the movies, books, interests, etc. that are “acceptable” by others. As for the Mini-Feed Facebook offers, despite the fact that it displays each of one’s activities, one can use the delete feature to select the updates one wishes others to see. Thus, I agree with your conclusion that the theory that plays best in this situation is that of Selective Self-Presentation. A major factor that might cause this is that in Facebook, one’s “friends” are usually people who one has met or spoken with at least once, so it is significantly harder to lie completely in contrast to websites like Match.com, where people interacting have not met or seen each other at all.
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