Communications of the ACM
Who Are You on Social Media?
Researchers Examine Norms of Online Personas
Credit: iStockPhoto.com
Researchers at Pennsylvania State University and King's College London in the U.K. found social media users frequently adopt different personas for different networks.
The researchers amassed information on more than 100,000 social media users via the About.me social media directory, and an analysis of profile images and biographical data found significant distinctions in different demographics' self-portrayal. When fed a profile description and photo, the model could correctly identify the social media platform the persona was created for up to 80 percent of the time. The researchers say this profile modification is a subconscious attempt by users to adapt their behavior to fit into the network community.
"Despite our best efforts [the data shows that subtly] we do still fit stereotypes of gender and age in the way we tailor our personas," says King's College's Nisanth Sastry.
From Pennsylvania State University
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