The self online: When meaning-making is outsourced to the cyber audience

Abstract

This study examines the cyber audience's perception of social media users' persona based on their online posts from a cognitive meaning-making perspective. Participants (N = 158) answered questions about their personal characteristics and provided their 20 most recent Facebook status updates. Two groups of viewers, who viewed either the text-only or multimedia version of the status updates, answered questions about the Facebook users' personal characteristics. The viewers' perceptions of Facebook users deviated from the users' self-perceptions, although user characteristics that serve social motives were more accurately perceived. Multimedia viewers were more accurate than text viewers, whereas the latter showed a greater consensus. Gender and ethnic differences of Facebook users also emerged in online person perceptions, in line with gendered and cultured characteristics. These findings shed critical light on the dynamic interplay between social media users and the cyber audience in the co-construction of a digitally extended self.

Fig 1. Self-presentation and outsourced meaning-making on social media.

Fig 2. The study phases.

Fig 3. A simulated example of the multimedia and text versions of a Facebook status update in the study.

Photos from https://www.pexels.com.

Fig 4

Interaction effects of rater group by (a) gender and (b) ethnicity on extraversion. Error bars represent the standard errors of the means. Both viewer groups, but not participants themselves, rated women higher than men on extroversion. The multimedia group, but not the text group or participants themselves, rated White Facebook users higher than Asians on extroversion.

Fig 5. Gender effect on the rating of connectedness.

Error bars represent the standard errors of the means. Both viewer groups and participants themselves rated women Facebook users higher than men on connectedness.

Fig 6. Ethnicity effect on the rating of self-esteem.

Error bars represent the standard errors of the means. Both viewer groups and participants themselves rated White Facebook users higher on self-esteem than Asians.

Fig 7. Interaction effect of rater group by gender on independence.

Error bars represent the standard errors of the means. Multimedia viewers, but not text viewers or participants themselves, rated women Facebook users higher than men on independence.

Fig 8. Interaction effect of rater group by gender on interdependence.

Error bars represent the standard errors of the means. Both viewer groups, but not participants themselves, rated women Facebook users higher than men on interdependence.