If you think you can fake how much self-esteem you have on Facebook by the status messages you post, you may be a little off track. The way people use the social network is enough to tell whether they have high or low self-esteem, according to the folks at Media Effects Research Laboratory, Penn State.
The report implies that users with higher self-esteem spend more time adding information about themselves. But an older study by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences may have something worth considering too.
It’s been claimed that people like disclosing their thoughts and emotions because it makes them feel good. And everyone knows how important happiness or even temporary psychological rewards are for building self-esteem. Getting back to the new research, if you’re high on self-esteem, you’re more likely to spend time adding education, family and work experience to your Facebook profile.
In other words, users with a healthy amount of self-worth could be most inclined towards constructing their virtual identity themselves by sharing personal information. So if we put the two studies side by side, it’s really a case of the chicken or the egg. On the other hand, people with low self-esteem may be more worried about what others post on their wall or in tagging/untagging pictures of themselves uploaded by their friends.
The backing for these Media Effects Research Laboratory findings is based on a survey of how 225 students from a South Korean university engaged with their Facebook profiles. Developers of games and apps for social platforms may want to pay heed. It’s been noted that since users view their online identity as their virtual possession, some may be willing to cough up the cash for customizable pages or walls.