Self-Presentation in Social Media: Review and Research Opportunities

Abstract

This paper reviews existing research on self-presentation in social media in order to inform future research. Social media offer seemingly limitless opportunities for strategic self-presentation. Informed by existing self-presentation theories, a review of research on self-presentation in social media revealed three significant context and audience variables that were conceptualized in a model. First, three affordances of social media – anonymity, persistence, and visibility – were discussed, as research has revealed the moderating effects of these affordances between self-presentation goal and the self-presentational content shared in social media. For example, one might expect that social media users are more likely to present their actual selves under conditions of less anonymity, more persistence, and more visibility. On the other hand, the freedom associated with more anonymous, less persistent, and less visibility social media may lead to idealized self-presentation. The second finding revealed the impact of other-generated content in the form of likes, comments, tags, and shares on social media users’ self-presentation content, mediated by how they choose to manage such content.The third theme concerned the moderating effect of context collapse on the relationship between goals and self-presentation content. The composition of an impression manager’s audience from one platform to the next varies across social media platforms, impacting and often complicating the attainment of self-presentation goals in the midst of merging networks of people. Social media users have adopted varying ways to navigate the complexities of context collapse in their pursuit of self-presentation. Although we have learned much from this body of literature, a more comprehensive theory of self-presentation in the hypermedia age is needed to further advance this area of research.

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Adolescent Athletes’ Self-Presentations on Social Media and Their Self-Esteem as Moderated by Their Perceptions of Responsiveness by Others

“…First, we utilized data collected through self-report and various social media channels. We acknowledge that the number of social media platforms is increasing with evolving technologies, and that presentation strategies and patterns may differ, depending on the characteristics of each platform (Hollenbaugh, 2021). Additionally, it is not ideal to understand selfpresentation phenomena solely through self-report questionnaires (Goffman, 1959).…”

Analyzing The Phenomenon of Self-presentation Content on Social Media Platforms

“…In the study by Erin, there is a significant and complex relationship between social media and self-presentation. Audience composition and technological affordances play a central role in self-presentation on social media [2]. Studies in the literature suggest that uncertainty about the existence of social phenomena during social transitions can generate anxiety, and if negative emotions accumulate over time without positive educational diversions, this can lead to a consistent upward trend in adolescent anxiety [3].…”