The explosive growth of
the Internet has led to online social networking communities, allowing
individuals to establish and maintain digital connections with each other. Different from a face-to-face networking environment, social
network sites (SNS) are a new communication technology that gives users more or
less complete control over the information that others can observe. Similar to
a face-to-face environment, certain SNS profiles are perceived as more socially
attractive than others. Users may be able to manage profile information so as
to manipulate their perceived social attractiveness. The
purpose of this study is to develop a better understanding of how one can use
effective impression management to design and build an attractive SNS profile.
This research focuses on Facebook, one of the most popular SNS worldwide with
more than 1.23 billion active members in 2014. It applies impression management
and social attractiveness theories to Facebook in an attempt to better
comprehend how people perceive the social attractiveness of others, based on
impressions of their profiles. An understanding of the cognitive processes
involved may have relevant implications for the marketing and PR strategy of
organizations in an SNS environment.
Advertisers are keen on finding ways to
leverage social network sites (SNS) such as Facebook, one of the premier SNS
today, to improve their image, the perception of their products and sales
revenue. Facebook facilitates social interaction online, and therefore develops
a better understanding of the effect of impression management and social
attractiveness on SNS. The article focuses on the impact of two
prominent features of a Facebook profile, number of friends and number of
photos that the user is tagged in, on user’s perceived social attractiveness.
Some SNS user profiles are perceived as more socially attractive than others.
Presumably, a Facebook profile with a higher degree of social attractiveness
will enhance the image of the organization, through positive association. In an
experiment involving both graduate and undergraduate university students,
almost all of them familiar with Facebook navigation, it suggests that, indeed, having more Facebook friends enhances social attractiveness,
but likely only to a point. Having too many Facebook friends may have an
adverse effect on social attractiveness. It also finds that the number of photos that one is tagged in is an important determinant of
social attractiveness, but only when considering alongside the number of
friends. These findings suggest that we may have identified a conceptual
SNS based advertising and PR design strategy with the potential to enhance
perceived social attractiveness of the message. Through a carefully designed
Facebook profile with the right balance between the number of friends and
number of photos tagged, the profile’s attractiveness may in turn inspire the
customer to view the products or services offered in a more favorable light. The results also suggest that other features of an SNS user
profile—such as the profile picture, friend network and profile content—have
the potential to affect social attractiveness. Interestingly and perhaps
unexpectedly, the study also suggests that gender influences social
attractiveness scores, with women perceived as more socially attractive when
they have more friends, and men perceived as more socially attractive when they
have fewer friends. One potential explanation for this gender-related
finding is that a gender double standard may exist in the judgment of social
attractiveness on Facebook.
Article by Antonie Stam and Glen T. Cameron, et al, from University of Missouri, USA
Full access:http://www.scirp.org/Journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=52052&utm_campaign=blogger&utm_medium=ljw
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| Photo by Sean MacEntee, from Flickr-cc |
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