Internet social network communities: Risk taking,trust, and privacy concerns

Individuals communicate and form relationships through Internet social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace. We study risk taking, trust, and privacy concerns with regard to social networking websites among 205 college students using both reliable scales and behavior. Individuals with profiles on social networking websites have greater risk taking attitudes than those who do not; greater risk taking attitudes exist among men than women. Facebook has a greater sense of trust than MySpace. General privacy concerns and identity information disclosure concerns are of greater concern to women than men. Greater percentages of men than women display their phone numbers and home addresses on social networking websites. Social networking websites should inform potential users that risk taking and privacy concerns are potentially relevant and important concerns before individuals sign-up and create social networking websites.     

Machiavellianism,self-monitoring,self-promotion and relational aggression on Facebook

Machiavellianism is a personality trait characterized by cynicism, emotional detachment and a willingness to manipulate others. Research investigating the behavior of Machiavellian men and women has focused on its influence in offline relationships. The popularity of social networking sites suggests that it is also important to consider the interactions of Machiavellian men and women in this context as well. Men (N = 54) and women (N = 189) completed questionnaires assessing Machiavellianism, self-monitoring, self-promotion and relational aggression. Analyses revealed that women who were high in Machiavellianism engaged in more dishonest self-promotion and relational aggression towards a close friend on Facebook whilst males with high levels of Machiavellianism engaged in more self-promoting behavior. In addition, both men and women high in Machiavellianism engaged in more self-monitoring. The findings demonstrate the importance of considering the influence of personality on online behavior and associated gender differences.     

Personality and positive orientation in Internet and Facebook addiction. An empirical report from Poland

Nowadays the Internet is used more and more. The use that becomes the most popular is social networking sites. The main aim of our two studies is to find an answer to the question of whether personality and positive orientation are linked to Internet and Facebook addiction. Two studies were conducted, verifying the effects of personality traits and positive orientation on these two kinds of addiction. Study 1 involved 631 participants and Study 2 involved 452. The Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale, the Internet Addiction Test, the Short Personality Scale, and the Positive Orientation Scale were used. Our results indicate that lower positive orientation, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience are related to problematic use of both Internet and Facebook. What is more, extraversion and agreeableness are connected only with problematic Internet use.     

An exploration of psychological factors on emoticon usage and implications for judgement accuracy

Given the increasing use of online platforms, the current research comprised two studies examining links between personality and emoticon use: Study 1 explored the psychological factors associated with emoticon usage on different online platforms (N = 92), and Study 2 assessed the accuracy of a group of observers' personality judgements of Facebook users (N = 54). Participants in Study 1 comprised previously unacquainted dyads who each completed measures on their Big-5 personality, self-esteem, social anxiety, self-presentation, and self-reported usage of emoticons on email, text messages and Facebook. Participants provided Facebook data and interacted online with each other for 10-min. Trait analysis revealed that agreeableness was positively related to self-reported emoticon usage on Facebook, but not in texts or emails. In Study 2, observers viewed the Facebook stimuli and made personality assessments of the dyad members. Judgement accuracy was determined by correlating these assessments with targets' own self-reported personality. Analyses revealed the highest level of accuracy for extraversion and openness. Finally, positive correlations were found between objective usage of “happy” emoticons and observers' assessments of targets’ agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness. Taken together, findings indicate the importance of specific online behaviours in self-presentation, and their impact on judgement accuracy.     

The effect of social networking websites on positive self-views: An experimental investigation

Millions of people use social networking sites (SNSs), but it is unclear how these sites shape personality traits and identity. In Experiment 1, college students were randomly assigned to either edit their MySpace page or complete a control task online (interacting with Google Maps). Those who focused on their MySpace page scored significantly higher on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) than a control group. In Experiment 2, those who focused on their Facebook page scored significantly higher in general self-esteem, but not narcissism, than a control group. Thus, spending time on SNSs profiles causes young people to endorse more positive self-views, although the specific form this takes depends on the site. Consistent with previous research, narcissism was associated with a larger number of SNSs “friends” in both experiments.     

Differences Between People Who Use Only Facebook and Those Who Use Facebook Plus Twitter

Facebook (FB) and Twitter are popular social networking sites. This study examined differences between those who use both sites versus only FB, to test the hypothesis that mono-users differ in their personality characteristics from users active in both websites. Participants were 205 undergraduate students: 96 only used FB, 109 used FB and Twitter. Participants who used both sites reported significantly lower loneliness, higher number of FB friends, and lower number of minutes spent online, as compared to those who used only FB. Loneliness was positively associated with FB use only in those who used FB alone but was negatively associated with and negatively predicted both FB and Twitter use in those who used both websites. Findings suggest that more intense use of online interactions is more frequently found in mono-users (people using only Facebook) as compared to those using both websites, and it is predicted by increased feelings of loneliness. The current study findings provide additional insights on what personality factors may make some people prone to excessive use of social networking sites.     

Personality and social characteristics of Facebook non-users and frequent users

Facebook is currently the largest social networking website with an estimated one billion of monthly active users in 2012. While most of the prior research has explored characteristics of Facebook users, less is known about the characteristics of individuals who do not use Facebook. The current study examined personality and social factors that might influence the decision to use Facebook and explored differences between Facebook non-users and frequent users. Online questionnaires examining levels of trust and self-disclosure, number of intimate friendships, peer usage of Facebook and scores on overt and covert narcissism were used for the purpose of the study. The results showed that non-users and frequent users differed on several social and personality characteristics. Facebook non-users had lower tendency to self-disclose, fewer peers participating in the social network and higher covert narcissistic traits. Frequent Facebook users scored higher on overt narcissism and reported more intimate friendships than non-users, indicating that close friendships might actually extend to social networks and contribute to a feeling of closeness and intimacy between friends in both an online and offline context.     

A tale of two sites: Twitter vs. Facebook and the personality predictors of social media usage

Social networking sites (SNS) are quickly becoming one of the most popular tools for social interaction and information exchange. Previous research has shown a relationship between users’ personality and SNS use. Using a general population sample (N = 300), this study furthers such investigations by examining the personality correlates (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness-to-Experience, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Sociability and Need-for-Cognition) of social and informational use of the two largest SNS: Facebook and Twitter. Age and Gender were also examined. Results showed that personality was related to online socialising and information seeking/exchange, though not as influential as some previous research has suggested. In addition, a preference for Facebook or Twitter was associated with differences in personality. The results reveal differential relationships between personality and Facebook and Twitter usage.     

The Discriminant Value of Personality,Motivation, and Online Relationship Quality in Predicting Attraction to Online Social Support on Facebook

This study investigates the relationship between personality traits, user motivations, relationship quality, and attraction to online social support in a sample of young adults (N = 278) in Greece who use Facebook. Self-report questionnaires on personality, motives, relationship quality, online social support, and sociodemographic factors were administered. According to the results, men in contrast to women were significantly more attracted to online social support. Predictors of online relationship quality were the existence of close relationships, entertainment, and conscientiousness. Motives, personality, relationship quality, and gender were good predictors of attraction to online social support. Implications for psychologists and future research are discussed.     

Who interacts on the Web?: The intersection of users’ personality and social media use

In the increasingly user-generated Web, users’ personality traits may be crucial factors leading them to engage in this participatory media. The literature suggests factors such as extraversion, emotional stability and openness to experience are related to uses of social applications on the Internet. Using a national sample of US adults, this study investigated the relationship between these three dimensions of the Big-Five model and social media use (defined as use of social networking sites and instant messages). It also examined whether gender and age played a role in that dynamic. Results revealed that while extraversion and openness to experiences were positively related to social media use, emotional stability was a negative predictor, controlling for socio-demographics and life satisfaction. These findings differed by gender and age. While extraverted men and women were both likely to be more frequent users of social media tools, only the men with greater degrees of emotional instability were more regular users. The relationship between extraversion and social media use was particularly important among the young adult cohort. Conversely, being open to new experiences emerged as an important personality predictor of social media use for the more mature segment of the sample.     

A study of Facebook Groups members’ knowledge sharing

There have been many studies focusing on individuals’ knowledge sharing behavior in the organizational setting. With the rapid prevalence of social networking sites, many people began to express their thoughts or share their knowledge via Facebook website. Facebook is an open environment which does not provide any immediate monetary benefits to its users. Its Groups members’ knowledge sharing behavior could be different from the ones in organizations. We proposed a research model to examine factors which promote the Facebook Groups users’ willingness to share knowledge. The factors in the study include extrinsic motivation, social and psychological forces, and social networking sharing culture. We used PLS to test our proposed hypotheses based on 271 responses collected through an online survey. Our results indicated that reputation would affect knowledge sharing attitude of Groups members and sense of self-worth would directly and indirectly (through subjective norm) affect the attitude. In addition, social networking sharing culture (fairness, identification, and openness) is the most significant factor, not only directly affecting knowledge sharing intention, but also indirectly influencing the sharing intention through subjective norm and knowledge sharing attitude.     

Personality assessment using multiple online social networks

Personality plays an important role in various aspects of our daily life. It is being used in many application scenarios such as i) personalized marketing and advertisement of commercial products, ii) designing personalized ambient environments, iii) personalized avatars in virtual world, and iv) by psychologists to treat various mental and personality disorders. Traditional methods of personality assessment require a long questionnaire to be completed, which is time consuming. On the other hand, several works have been published that seek to acquire various personality traits by analyzing Internet usage statistics. Researchers have used Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and various other websites to collect usage statistics. However, we are still far from a successful outcome. This paper uses a range of divergent features of Facebook and LinkedIn social networks, both separately and collectively, in order to achieve better results. In this work, the big five personality trait model is used to analyze the five traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. The experimental results show that the accuracy of personality detection improves with the use of complementary features of multiple social networks (Facebook and LinkedIn, in our case) for openness, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism. However, for extroversion we found that the use of only LinkedIn features provides better results than the use of only Facebook features or both Facebook and LinkedIn features.     

Gender differences in mediated communication: Women connect more than do men

Past research in gender differences in the overall Internet use has been contradictory. Some asserted men used it more than women, while others asserted there were no gender difference. Both camps concluded that men and women differed in their motivation and utilization of time spent online. The purpose of the present research was to take a contemporary look at these gender differences. Using an online survey, we asked participants about their experiences with multiple forms of mediated communication: social networking sites, e-mail, video calls, instant messaging, texting, and phone calls. Our results indicated that women, compared to men, are generally more frequent mediated communication users. Compared to men, women prefer and more frequently use text messaging, social media, and online video calls. These results suggest that the nature of mediated social interaction is changing.     

College students' text messaging,use of textese and literacy skills

In this study, I examined reported frequency of text messaging, use of textese and literacy skills (reading accuracy, spelling and reading fluency) in a sample of American college students. Participants reported using text messaging, social networking sites and textese more often than was reported in previous (2009) research, and their frequency of textese use varied across contexts. Correlational analyses revealed significant, positive relationships between text messaging frequency and literacy skills (spelling and reading fluency), but significant, negative relationships between textese usage in certain contexts (on social networking sites such as MySpace? and Facebook? and in emails to professors) and literacy (reading accuracy). These findings differ from findings reported in recent studies with Australian college students, British schoolchildren and American college students. Explanations for these differences are discussed, and future directions for research are presented.     

The Taste for Privacy: An Analysis of College Student Privacy Settings in an Online Social Network

The rapid growth of contemporary social network sites (SNSs) has coincided with an increasing concern over personal privacy. College students and adolescents routinely provide personal information on profiles that can be viewed by large numbers of unknown people and potentially used in harmful ways. SNSs like Facebook and MySpace allow users to control the privacy level of their profile, thus limiting access to this information. In this paper, we take the preference for privacy itself as our unit of analysis, and analyze the factors that are predictive of a student having a private versus public profile. Drawing upon a new social network dataset based on Facebook, we argue that privacy behavior is an upshot of both social influences and personal incentives. Students are more likely to have a private profile if their friends and roommates have them; women are more likely to have private profiles than are men; and having a private profile is associated with a higher level of online activity. Finally, students who have private versus public profiles are characterized by a unique set of cultural preferences—of which the “taste for privacy” may be only a small but integral part.     

A comparative study of three social networking websites

Recently, the number of social networking sites is rapidly increasing, and the number of users joining these sites is dramatically increasing as well. This paper aims at comprehensively comparing three social networking sites, and provides an in-depth analysis. We compare three of the most popular social networking sites, i.e., Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Specifically, we evaluate those social networking sites based on four criteria (i.e., navigation, interactivity, source credibility and intelligence). For each criterion, we propose a list of measures for the comparison. The comparison essentially explores the differences and commonalities among those social networking sites. Based on the analysis of the comparison, a user study is conducted to evaluate the three websites.     

Don't Judge a (Face)Book by its Cover: Exploring judgement accuracy of others' personality on Facebook

With interaction across social networking sites (SNSs) becoming more prominent, the ability to accurately judge another's personality through these digital platforms is an important area of investigation. A number of studies demonstrate that SNSs can be an effective means of communicating information on personality (Evans, Gosling & Carroll, 2008). Much less research has examined the online cues that people use when forming their impressions of another's personality. The current research adopted a mixed methods approach to examine 1) accuracy of first impressions formed on the basis of viewing a person's Facebook behaviour and 2) how judgements are formed. Findings suggested that the traits of openness and conscientiousness can be judged most accurately through observing Facebook behaviour. To explore the cues used in forming personality judgements, thematic analysis was undertaken. This revealed six information ‘cues’ including; (1) vocabulary of target, (2) photographs, (3) written online interactions, (4) relationships with others, (5) health status and, (6) occupational status. Findings are discussed in terms of Funder's Realistic Accuracy Model (1995, 1999) along with limitations and suggestions for future research.     

Meeting ex-partners on Facebook: users' anxiety and severity of depression

The purpose of the present study was to explore participants' subsequent emotions and behaviour when they re-encountered their ex-partners on Facebook. A survey of 202 Facebook users aged 16–65 years was conducted using a 79-question online survey to examine users' emotion and behaviour (state anxiety, trait anxiety, and severity of depression) when their ex-partners reappeared on social networking sites (SNS), they received an invitation from an ex-partner to be friends on SNS, and when they saw pictures of ex-partners with current girlfriends or boyfriends. The results indicated that for people who accepted former partners' invitation to be Facebook friends, trait anxiety was more pronounced than for those who did not. Moreover, people who accepted former partners' invitations to become Facebook friends were much more depressed than those who did not. In addition, it is found that gender generates significant differences in the severity of depression. It is worth noting that when people met former partners on Facebook, men were much more depressed than women. However, the way in which participants broke up with ex-partners did not significantly affect their state anxiety, trait anxiety, or the severity of depression. Finally, the participants' cognition of and importance placed on their former relationship resulted in significant differences in trait anxiety. The current study adds to the growing body of literature investigating relationships among SNS users, becoming friends with ex-partners on Facebook, emotions, and behaviour.     

Who blogs? Personality predictors of blogging

The Big Five personality inventory measures personality based on five key traits: neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, openness to experience, and conscientiousness [Costa, P. T., Jr., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Normal personality assessment in clinical practice: The NEO Personality Inventory. Psychological Assessment 4, 5–13]. There is a growing body of evidence indicating that individual differences on the Big Five factors are associated with different types of Internet usage [Amichai-Hamburger, Y., & Ben-Artzi, E. (2003). Loneliness and Internet use. Computers in Human Behavior 19, 71–80; Hamburger, Y. A., & Ben-Artzi, E. (2000). Relationship between extraversion and neuroticism and the different uses of the Internet. Computers in Human Behavior 16, 441–449]. Two studies sought to extend this research to a relatively new online format for expression: blogging. Specifically, we examined whether the different Big Five traits predicted blogging. The results of two studies indicate that people who are high in openness to new experience and high in neuroticism are likely to be bloggers. Additionally, the neuroticism relationship was moderated by gender indicating that women who are high in neuroticism are more likely to be bloggers as compared to those low in neuroticism whereas there was no difference for men. These results indicate that personality factors impact the likelihood of being a blogger and have implications for understanding who blogs.