Image choice to represent the self in different online environments

Monica Whitty; James Doodson; Sadie Creese; Duncan Hodges

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-07632-4_50

Image choice to represent the self in different online environments

Monica Whitty, James Doodson, Sadie Creese, Duncan Hodges

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Paper › Research › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper draws from 'impression management theory' to examine the choices individuals make to visually represent themselves on Facebook and Twitter. We interviewed 20 participants about their image choice and the sorts of inferences others make about their identity. Participants were asked whether they believed their image influenced the types of people who connect with them, and whether their pictorial representation affected the topics and type of communication they have with other people. Contrary to previous research on online impression management, we found that few individuals were motivated to create a specific impression by playing with different images and instead individuals were motivated to appear genuine and authentic. Only a few desired hiding behind an avatar in order to feel freer to self-disclose. We found that Facebook and Twitter were perceived as very different spaces with different affordances and that these perceived affordances influenced participants' choice in image.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Social Computing and Social Media - 6th International Conference, SCSM 2014, Held as Part of HCI International 2014, Proceedings
Publisher	Springer-Verlag London Ltd.
Pages	528-537
Number of pages	10
ISBN (Print)	9783319076317
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07632-4_50
Publication status	Published - 2014
Externally published	Yes
Event	International Conference on Social Computing and Social Media (SCSM) Held as Part of International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI International) 2014 - Heraklion, Greece Duration: 22 Jun 2014 → 27 Jun 2014 Conference number: 6th & 16th https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-07632-4 (Proceedings)

Publication series

Name	Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume	8531 LNCS
ISSN (Print)	0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)	1611-3349

Conference

Conference	International Conference on Social Computing and Social Media (SCSM) Held as Part of International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI International) 2014
Country/Territory	Greece
City	Heraklion
Period	22/06/14 → 27/06/14
Internet address	https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-07632-4 (Proceedings)

Keywords

avatars
computer mediated communication
impression management
online identity
online pictorial representations
social identity and presence

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-319-07632-4_50

Cite this

Whitty, M., Doodson, J., Creese, S., & Hodges, D. (2014). Image choice to represent the self in different online environments. In Social Computing and Social Media - 6th International Conference, SCSM 2014, Held as Part of HCI International 2014, Proceedings (pp. 528-537). (Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics); Vol. 8531 LNCS). Springer-Verlag London Ltd.. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07632-4_50

Whitty, Monica ; Doodson, James ; Creese, Sadie et al. / Image choice to represent the self in different online environments. Social Computing and Social Media - 6th International Conference, SCSM 2014, Held as Part of HCI International 2014, Proceedings. Springer-Verlag London Ltd., 2014. pp. 528-537 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)).

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abstract = "This paper draws from 'impression management theory' to examine the choices individuals make to visually represent themselves on Facebook and Twitter. We interviewed 20 participants about their image choice and the sorts of inferences others make about their identity. Participants were asked whether they believed their image influenced the types of people who connect with them, and whether their pictorial representation affected the topics and type of communication they have with other people. Contrary to previous research on online impression management, we found that few individuals were motivated to create a specific impression by playing with different images and instead individuals were motivated to appear genuine and authentic. Only a few desired hiding behind an avatar in order to feel freer to self-disclose. We found that Facebook and Twitter were perceived as very different spaces with different affordances and that these perceived affordances influenced participants' choice in image.",

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Whitty, M, Doodson, J, Creese, S & Hodges, D 2014, Image choice to represent the self in different online environments. in Social Computing and Social Media - 6th International Conference, SCSM 2014, Held as Part of HCI International 2014, Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), vol. 8531 LNCS, Springer-Verlag London Ltd., pp. 528-537, International Conference on Social Computing and Social Media (SCSM) Held as Part of International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI International) 2014, Heraklion, Greece, 22/06/14. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07632-4_50

Image choice to represent the self in different online environments. / Whitty, Monica; Doodson, James; Creese, Sadie et al.

Social Computing and Social Media - 6th International Conference, SCSM 2014, Held as Part of HCI International 2014, Proceedings. Springer-Verlag London Ltd., 2014. p. 528-537 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics); Vol. 8531 LNCS).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Paper › Research › peer-review

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AU - Hodges, Duncan

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PY - 2014

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AB - This paper draws from 'impression management theory' to examine the choices individuals make to visually represent themselves on Facebook and Twitter. We interviewed 20 participants about their image choice and the sorts of inferences others make about their identity. Participants were asked whether they believed their image influenced the types of people who connect with them, and whether their pictorial representation affected the topics and type of communication they have with other people. Contrary to previous research on online impression management, we found that few individuals were motivated to create a specific impression by playing with different images and instead individuals were motivated to appear genuine and authentic. Only a few desired hiding behind an avatar in order to feel freer to self-disclose. We found that Facebook and Twitter were perceived as very different spaces with different affordances and that these perceived affordances influenced participants' choice in image.

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KW - online pictorial representations

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Whitty M, Doodson J, Creese S, Hodges D. Image choice to represent the self in different online environments. In Social Computing and Social Media - 6th International Conference, SCSM 2014, Held as Part of HCI International 2014, Proceedings. Springer-Verlag London Ltd. 2014. p. 528-537. (Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07632-4_50

Image choice to represent the self in different online environments

Abstract

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Conference

Keywords

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