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Reed Tack

Literature Review

Dr. Lepper

CMST 380

Frequent social media use will cause an increase in exaggerated self-

presentation.
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According to Gabrielle Groth, Laura Longo, and Jessica Martin (2016) a staggering 90%

of college students use some form of social media. There are a multitude of studies that

discuss how teens and young adults in this day and age cant hold a conversation, are

narcissistic, or do poorly in school all due to social media usage. This study will cover some

computer mediated communication theories that help explain why exaggerated self-

presentation is so frequent in online communication. The different theories will segue into how

exaggerated self-presentation has become commonplace on social media sites through text and

photos.

Literature from the following areas will be examined: (1) Computer mediated communication

theories. (2) Self-presentation in social media.

Research question: Are people who use social media frequently more likely to exaggerate their

visual self-presentation on social media than infrequent users.

Computer Mediated Communication Theories

Many theories have been developed over the past few decades that try to explain how

communication has changed because of computers. In order to better understand

exaggeration on social media, it is important to understand some of the terms and theories of

computer mediated communication or CMC.

Interpersonal relationships have changed since the creation of the internet. As Joseph

Walther (2011) explains, CMC takes on many different forms. Families communicate via

texting, barley acquainted Facebook friends send messages back and forth, and people observe

celebrities Tweet about the latest drama. All of these different forms of CMC have a different

dynamic than normal face to face communication. Walther (2011) states, Individuals exploit
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the features of these media to make their best impression and attract attention or to ward off

undesired contacts. We are constantly evaluating information that we receive through CMC

because of the selective and sometimes deceitful self-presentation of ourselves and others.

There are many theories that help explain why people say what they say through different

medias; understanding the theories is a stepping stone to understanding why people deceitfully

self-present themselves visually on different medias.

The first CMC theory is called Signaling theory. According to Walther (2011) this theory

helps to explain the skepticism that people have of others presentation online. The theory is

broken down into two signals, assessment signals and conventional signals. Assessment signals

are considered reliable and inherent. If a person is to exhibit an assessment signal, then they

must have the traits to support the exhibition. An example of this would be if a person were to

exhibit strong muscles, then they must be able to lift a large amount of weight. The other

signal, conventional signals are not reliable or inherent. They are claims that arent as

trustworthy as the aforementioned assessment signals. An example of this would be if

someone claimed to possess something great, but there arent any traits to confirm or deny the

claim, making it untrustworthy. CMC predominantly consists of conventional signals. Judith

Donath, the creator of the theory, stated in 2007, Conventional signals are very common in

human communication. The self-descriptions in online profiles are mostly conventional signals-

it is just as easy to type 24 or 62 as it is to enter one's actual age, or to put M rather than F as

one's gender.

The next theory, which picks up right where signaling theory left off, is impression

management theory. Jeong and Lee (2013) explain Impression management theory as peoples
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efforts to control how other people perceive them. When in public, people use many different

tactics to appear desirable or socially acceptable An example of this would be that on average,

people eat more when they are by themselves than when they are eating with other people

(Hyun Ju Jeong & Mira Lee, 2013). Primarily, impression management research is conducted on

face to face interaction, but some studies pertain to its impact on CMC. According to Becker

and Stamp (2005) impression management is more challenging in CMC as opposed to face to

face communication because there arent any visible cues. In face to face interaction, people

are able to interpret social and cultural memberships. In CMC, this isnt possible, causing users

to have to spend more time and generate more messages to impression manage. There is a

fine line between what is acceptable impression management, and what is too deceitful. In a

study conducted by the aforementioned Becker and Stamp (2005) that monitored college

students CMC in chatrooms, they found that people impression manage during CMC for three

reasons. The three reasons are the desire for social acceptance, the desire to develop and

maintain relationships, and the desire to experiment with identities. The desire for social

acceptance is rather straight forward, people generally want to fit it, and they try and shape

other peoples perceptions of them to fit societal standards. People who use impression

management to develop and maintain relationships, do so through CMC because they believe it

is easier to communicate via CMC than it is face to face, and it allows them to be more

confident. The third reason, to experiment with new identities, allow people to completely

change who they are. One of the participants of the study cited that in CMC, if the person you

are communicating with has no knowledge of who you are, then you can experiment and be
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who youve always wanted to be. This use of impression management is considered complete

misrepresentation (Becker & Stamp, 2005).

The final theory discussed in this literature that gives insight to deceitful self-

presentation is warranting theory. The theory describes how legitimately people view

information posted by other people online. Walther (2011) explains that millions of people

interact on the internet daily. Regardless of whether it is through social media, gaming, or

online dating, people have come to expect a certain level of difference between what is self-

presented in CMC and what is the offline reality. One major realization of the warranting

theory considers the possibility of online interaction somehow connecting to offline

interactions. Walther (2011) states, The introduction of the warranting construct argued that

an individual is less likely to distort his or her self-presentation when the receiver has access to

other members of the sender's social circle, since others can corroborate the individual's real-

life characteristics and hold that person accountable for misrepresentation. Initial research

done on this theory only took into account text based CMC communication, but more recently

additional research has been conducted to include multimedia content. (Walther, 2011 pg

466). In the era of social media communication, users are constantly trying to decipher what is

accurate, and what is a misrepresentation. Lane, Piercy, and Carr (2015) explains the

evaluation of what people perceive as warranting value. People seek to validate information

presented by other through a third party, but that information isnt always available. If the

information is verifiable, then it has an increased warranting value. If there is no way to verify

it, subsequently it will have a lessened warranting value. As a result, senders are less willing to
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misrepresent their self-presentation if the receiver has access to the senders social circle or

other means to validate the information (Lane, Piercy, & Carr, 2016).

In a study conducted by Walther, Van Der Heide, Hamel, and Shulman (2009) the

principals of warranting theory were tested using Facebook. The format of Facebook allows

users to express hobbies, interests, and different about me topics on their walls, as well as

talk about their attractiveness via pictures that they post. Friends of the user have the ability to

post on their friends walls and comment on pictures and posts. The study found that when a

user posted about their own attractiveness or unattractiveness and the comments from friends

and acquaintances contradicted the users initial statements or picture captions, the friends

comments more accurately represented the user.

Social Media Self-Presentation

It is well documented that the idea body image portrayed by the media causes body

image dissatisfaction for females. Television shows, magazines and other media outlets all

portray the ideal thin body type. The more frequently a woman consumes these types of

media, the greater the chances of body image dissatisfaction. Social media has only increased

the body issue problems caused by regular media. (Cohen & Blaszczynski, 2015). According to

Rachel Cohen and Alex Blaszczynski (2015), Social networking sites are increasing in popularity,

and have an addictive nature. This increased use is having a devastating effect on individuals

body image, because people are more likely to compare themselves to their peers than they

are to celebrities in the main stream media. The idea body type portrayed by the media does

affect body image satisfaction for the average female, but many understand that being ideal
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thin is not realistic. Most of the damage being done to the self-confidence of women occurs

when they compare themselves to other social media followers or friends.

Dr. Jesse Fox, and Megan Vendemia (2016) explain why women in particular critically

evaluate themselves, and there physical appearance via objectification theory. The theory as it

relates to social media presentation explains that women view their self-worth from outsiders

perspectives and societal standards. They went on to state (2016), As women are socialized in

an objectifying culture by interpersonal ties and media, they begin to self-objectify,

internalizing this perspective and learning to value themselves based on appearance. The

issue here is that self-objectification has been directly linked with depression, eating disorders,

and body shaming (Fox & Vendemia, 2016).

When it comes to self-presentation on social networks, studies have shown direct

deceitfulness. Users are manipulating their profiles in order to fit the idea beauty standards set

by society. When women view the profiles of celebrities and models, they assume the pictures

have been edited and airbrushed, this reduces the likelihood of self-comparison. When viewing

the profile images of real people (2015), the belief is that the images are unaltered. This is

where body comparisons are drawn. Another reason social media creates more body image

issues than mass media is because social networks utilize fat talk (2015). Fat talk is found all

over social media posts in comments on pictures and general posts. Fat talk includes eating and

exercise habits, idea body shape, and flattering pictures with comments about being skinny or

beautiful, just to name a few. The Center for Eating disorders surveyed 600 Facebook users

ages 16-40 about how Facebook makes them feel about their body. 50% reported that they felt

more conscious of their body due to Facebook, 31% reported feeling sad after comparing
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themselves to their Facebook friends, and finally 41% wished they had the body and or weight

of some of their Facebook friends (Cohen & Blaszczynski, 2015).

In order to create an impression, people present themselves in a specific way.

Sometimes this self-presentation is exaggerated in order to achieve the specific goal one has in

his or her mind. Exaggerated or deceitful self-presentation is likely to increase when interacting

with a potential love interest. In a survey of male and female college students used to see how

willing they were to engage in deceitful self-presentation when attracting a potential love

interest in person. The results of the survey showed that both men and women used deceit,

but for different purposes. Men reported using deception to seem more dominant, resourceful

and kind. On the contrary, women reported that they used deception to enhance their physical

appearance (Guadagno et al., 2012).

The effect social media has on individuals goes beyond body image, it can affect overall

self-esteem. When expressing oneself on social media, often times there is a long deliberate

thought process about what an individual wants to express to the public, or his/her followers.

This makes sense because people want others to think of them in high regard. Studies show

that the more someone views other people profiles, the more likely that person deals with self-

esteem issues (Gonzales & Hancock, 2011). This makes perfect sense, because if a person is

constantly viewing other peoples profiles that are full of information about how great they are,

or about some extraordinary accomplishment that they just achieved, they are likely to feel

down about their own person lives.

Gonzales and Hancock (2011) show in their research findings that there is a direct

correlation between a lack of self-esteem and non-exaggerated social media content. In other
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words the more accurately you display yourself, the more likely you will have self-esteem

issues. They discovered that the more positive and potentially exaggerated information

expressed, the higher the likelihood of high self-esteem.

All of these issues, social comparison, low self-esteem, and body image dissatisfaction,

caused by social media directly relate to social media photo editing. The popular cultural

phenomenon that has taken over almost every social media platform are selfies. According to

Jiyoung Chae (2017), a selfie is a photo take of oneself with a smartphone or webcam. Chae

(2017) explains that social media users are editing their selfies through the use of filters and

editing software to self-present a better version of themselves online. In a survey of 1,710

adults, half of the respondents reported that they edit their selfies. Chae (2017) states that the

motivation behind selfie editing is social comparison because human beings have a natural

tendency to compare ourselves to other to evaluate our own characteristics. CMC has made

selective self-presentation possible because of the time lapse between messages. This allows

senders more time to evaluate what they want to present. With technological advancement,

users are able to create their ideal selves not only in text, but in photos as well.

Several studies have discovered a positive relationship between selfie taking and

narcissism, and frequent selfie takers are more likely to compare themselves to others. Chae

(2017) states, Frequent selfie takers are likely to be narcissists who believe that they are

unique and superior to others and need attention and admiration from others. Narcissists

might want to conform their superiority by comparing themselves to others. The need for

narcissists to confirm their superiority is a major cause of selfie editing. Selfie editing is caused

more so by a need to feel better looking than others than overall appearance dissatisfaction.
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There are multiple characteristics that social media users display that indicate selfie editing

tendencies. People who are comparison-oriented, high public self-consciousness, and frequent

selfie takers (Chae, 2017).

A correlation that has yet to be made is whether frequent social media use is also an

indicator of selfie and general photo editing. Discovering if there is a connection is goal of this

study.
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References

Becker, J. H., & Stamp, G. H. (2005). Impression Management in Chat Rooms: A Grounded Theory

Model. Communication Studies, 56(3), 243-260. doi:10.1080/10510970500181264

Chae, J. (2017). Virtual makeover: Selfie-taking and social media use increase selfie-editing frequency

through social comparison. Computers in Human Behavior, 66, 370376.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.10.007

Cohen, R., & Blaszczynski, A. (2015). Comparative effects of Facebook and conventional media on body

image dissatisfaction. Journal of Eating Disorders, 3, 23. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-015-

0061-3

Fox, J., & Vendemia, M. A. (2016). Selective Self-Presentation and Social Comparison Through

Photographs on Social Networking Sites. CyberPsychology, Behavior & Social Networking,

19(10), 593600. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2016.0248

Gonzales, A. L., & Hancock, J. T. (2011). Mirror, Mirror on my Facebook Wall: Effects of Exposure to

Facebook on Self-Esteem. CyberPsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 14(1/2), 7983.

https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2009.0411

Groth, G. G., Longo, L. M., & Martin, J. L. (2017). Social media and college student risk behaviors: A mini-

review. Addictive Behaviors, 6587-91. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2016.10.003

Guadagno, R. E., Okdie, B. M., & Kruse, S. A. (2012). Dating deception: Gender, online dating, and

exaggerated self-presentation. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(2), 642647.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2011.11.010

Hyun Ju, J., & Mira, L. (2013). The Effect of Online Media Platforms on Joining Causes: The Impression

Management Perspective. Journal Of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 57(4), 439-455.

doi:10.1080/08838151.2013.845824
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Lane, B. L., Piercy, C. W., & Carr, C. T. (2016). Making it Facebook official: The warranting value of online

relationship status disclosures on relational characteristics. Computers in Human Behavior, 56,

18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.11.016

Walther, J. B. (2011). Theories of computer-mediated communication and interpersonal relations. The

handbook of interpersonal communication, 4, 443-479.

Walther, J. B., Van Der Heide, B., Hamel, L. M., & Shulman, H. C. (2009). Self-Generated Versus Other-

Generated Statements and Impressions in Computer-Mediated Communication: A Test of

Warranting Theory Using Facebook. Communication Research, 36(2), 229-253.