Discuss the ways in which the use of social media and an individual's personality affect each other

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

ANS: Our increasing, almost constant use of the various social media to interact with other people in a virtual reality rather than in person has led to a great deal of recent research which attempts to relate our personalities to the online world in which we now live. The three ways in which the use of social media and our personality have been found to affect each other are as follows:
a. Our virtual depiction: Some research suggests that most people are honest about their online faces. Studies conducted in the United States and in Germany found that social networking sites do convey accurate images or impressions of the personality profiles we offer. The researchers concluded that depictions of personalities presented online are at least as accurate as those conveyed in face-to-face interactions. Research has found that more women than men send selfies and that excessive use of them can make the sender less likeable and even reduce the intimacy or closeness of friendships. They can even reinforce the idea that how people look is more important than how they actually behave in real life toward their friends. We are not always honest in how we depict ourselves in person either, particularly when we meet new people we want to impress, like a date or an employer. With people we have known for a while, with whom we feel secure, and who represent no threat, we may be less likely to pretend to be something we are not. Perhaps the major difference with social networking sites is that there is a much wider and more instantly reachable audience than in our everyday offline lives.
b. Effect of social media on personality: Psychologists have found that the use of online social networking sites like Facebook can both shape and reflect our personalities. One study of adolescents in China aged 13 to 18 found that excessive time spent using the Internet resulted in significant levels of anxiety and depression when compared to teenagers who spent considerably less time online. An online survey of college students in the United States showed that those who spent time talking with their parents on the telephone had more satisfying personal and supportive relationships with them than students who kept in touch with the parents through social networking sites. In addition, college students who communicated with their parents on social networking sites reported greater loneliness, anxiety, and conflict in their relationships with their parents.
c. Effect of personality on social media: In addition to affecting our personalities, social networking sites can also reflect them. Studies in both Eastern and Western cultures found that those who were more extraverted and narcissistic (who had an inflated, unrealistic self-concept) were much more likely to use Facebook than those who did not score high on those personality characteristics.
The more narcissistic teenagers were also more likely to update their Facebook status more frequently. Other studies suggest that those who report high use of social networking sites tend to be more extraverted, more open to new experiences, lower in self-esteem and socialization skills, less conscientious, and lower in emotional stability than those who report lower levels of usage.