personality traits
Personality traits and Facebook use
Rationale of the Study
Facebook is quickly becoming one of the most popular tools for social communication. However, Facebook is somewhat different from other Social Networking Sites such as twitter, tumbler etc. as it demonstrates an offline-to-online trend; that is the majority of Facebook Friends is met offline and then added later. The present research investigated how the Five-Factor Model of personality relates to Facebook use. Despite some expected trends regarding Extraversion and Openness to Experience, results indicated that personality factors were not as influential as previous literature would suggest. The results also indicated that a motivation to communicate was influential in terms of Facebook use. It is suggested that different motivations may be influential in the decision to use tools such as Facebook, especially when individual functions of Facebook are being considered. According to Bargh & McKenn, the modern Internet has been presented as a combination of all previous communication technologies. Capable of simultaneously broadcasting vast amounts of information to a large number of individuals (much like television), the Internet can also provide an intimate venue for interpersonal conversation (much like the telephone). With these capabilities, the Internet has the potential to create a fundamental shift in how people communicate.
According to Ellison et al, the initial purpose of Facebook was to allow university students to create and maintain social ties which were relevant to the university experience. This goal appears to be met. Ellison and colleagues (2007) reported that 94% of undergraduate students were Facebook users, spending 10–30 min online each day communicating with their “Friends List” of 150–200 people. Perhaps most interesting, the majority of these “Facebook Friends” were individuals known from the offline world; in other words, Facebook was not used as a tool to meet new people
Rationale of the Study
Facebook is quickly becoming one of the most popular tools for social communication. However, Facebook is somewhat different from other Social Networking Sites such as twitter, tumbler etc. as it demonstrates an offline-to-online trend; that is the majority of Facebook Friends is met offline and then added later. The present research investigated how the Five-Factor Model of personality relates to Facebook use. Despite some expected trends regarding Extraversion and Openness to Experience, results indicated that personality factors were not as influential as previous literature would suggest. The results also indicated that a motivation to communicate was influential in terms of Facebook use. It is suggested that different motivations may be influential in the decision to use tools such as Facebook, especially when individual functions of Facebook are being considered. According to Bargh & McKenn, the modern Internet has been presented as a combination of all previous communication technologies. Capable of simultaneously broadcasting vast amounts of information to a large number of individuals (much like television), the Internet can also provide an intimate venue for interpersonal conversation (much like the telephone). With these capabilities, the Internet has the potential to create a fundamental shift in how people communicate.
According to Ellison et al, the initial purpose of Facebook was to allow university students to create and maintain social ties which were relevant to the university experience. This goal appears to be met. Ellison and colleagues (2007) reported that 94% of undergraduate students were Facebook users, spending 10–30 min online each day communicating with their “Friends List” of 150–200 people. Perhaps most interesting, the majority of these “Facebook Friends” were individuals known from the offline world; in other words, Facebook was not used as a tool to meet new people
References: Ellison, N.B., Steinfield, C.,& Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook “friends:” Social capital and college stdents use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12, 1143-1168. big five inventory. John, Donahue, and Kentle (1991) copyright 1991 by Oliver P. John Facebook Intensity Scale