The Study of Personality

Chapter 1 Discussion: Personality and Social Media: A New Frontier

Psychologists have found that the use of online social networking sites like Facebook can both shape and reflect our personalities. Along with Facebook, other sites (YouTube, Tumblr, Instagram, Netflix) might also affect your personality. Psychologists are increasingly seeking answers to questions like:

• Do we present our real selves on social media? We used to distinguish the “ideal” self from the “actual” self. Perhaps we now need to add a “virtual” or “socially projected” self.
• Does the use of social media influence or change our personalities?
• Do people with different personalities use social media in different ways?

Here are some internet Sites to explore:

— http://www.huffingtonpost.com/r-kay-green/the-social-media-effect a_b_3721029.html?ir=India&adsSiteOverride=inLinks to an external site.

— https://prezi.com/2qqtwxtcn7zk/social-media-and-the-affects-on-personality/Links to an external site.

Let’s explore how personality and social media interact and affect one another.

1. Take either yourself or someone you know extremely well. Create 2 columns and list the traits that distinguish the person’s real self and virtual self. Is there a substantial difference between these?  [If you are doing this with yourself in mind, you might want to create a 3^rd column for your “ideal self” for your own, private consideration. Are you living and functioning in a way that is helping you realize your personal idea?]
2. Please find a professional source (high quality online or journal article) that addresses this issue. Summarize what you learned from that source for us, and provide a very clear reference so that we might read it too.

Your post here should be substantial. Engage in a rich way with the material. As graduate students, I don’t want to have to give you word count length, but I know you might want some estimate, so I will say 300 words (EXCLUDING CITATIONS) is a minimum. Make sure you draft your work in a word processor, proof it, and save it before you post it here. You won’t lose your work that way!