The Fronts Students Use: Facebook and the Standardization of Self-Presentations

Abstract

This empirical study explored the impression management techniques and standardized performances college students use on their Facebook profiles to ensure their peers believe they are fully participating in the undergraduate experience. Employing an ethnographic research design and data collected using participant-observation and interview methods, I considered the texts and images that appear repeatedly on Facebook profiles from a dramaturgical framework. I found that participants in this study identified at least 6 standardized fronts that students use to help ensure they give peers the impression of conforming to appropriate undergraduate norms.

THEY SHOULDN’T POST THAT! STUDENT PERCEPTION OF INAPPROPRIATE POSTS ON FACEBOOK REGARDING ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PEER SOCIALIZATION

“…Birnbaum (2013) notes that undergraduates consciously think about the impressions they want to make to peers on media sites like Facebook (Martinez-Alemán and Wartman, 2008); therefore, they spend a lot of time managing their profiles to provide the impression of themselves that they desire (Reich, 2010). This impression management is directly relevant to depictions of college drinking on Facebook.…”

“…The same study looked at what people posted on each other's profiles and found that 50% of the posts involved partying. Hence, Facebook profiles would contain posts and images that students intentionally believe are most likely to convince their audience, especially their peeers, that they are fitting into the expectations of college life (e.g., drinking), even if the discloser does not actually participate in these behaviors as much as the profile would suggest (Birnbaum, 2013). Furthermore, not only do college students need to make it look like they eagerly and willingly participate in this college partying culture, they need to do it in an "extreme" way that is viewed by this generation as "cool"; and, documenting this behavior on Facebook is a means of proof.…”

“…Furthermore, not only do college students need to make it look like they eagerly and willingly participate in this college partying culture, they need to do it in an "extreme" way that is viewed by this generation as "cool"; and, documenting this behavior on Facebook is a means of proof. Therefore, Facebook postings, according to (Birnbaum, 2013), are stylized performances of individuals wanting the approval of their peers. However, where the line between "cool" and negatively excessive lies is unclear.…”

“…Much of the research on undergraduates' use of Facebook is quantitative and atheoretical (Birnbaum, 2013); however, (Krasnova et al, 2010) applied Privacy Calculus Theory, an offshoot of social exchange theory, to establish a theoretical foundation of self-disclosure. According to social exchange theory, interpersonal relationships are based on a subjective weighing of benefits and costs of the relationship (Homans, 1958).…”

"I Would Not Do It:" Student Reaction to Facebook Wall Grief Posts

“…Teenagers and college students are socialized regarding adult emotional expression from a variety of sources -family, friends, and social media to name a few. Peer socialization is especially salient at this time (Erikson, 1968;Williams & Merten, 2009;Brechwald & Prinstein, 2011) and young people's involvement in social media sites is now well documented (Bazarova, 2012;Birnbaum, 2013; Duggan, Ellison, Lampe, Lenhart, & Madden, 2015). For example, according to Duggan and colleagues (2015), almost 90% of teens and young adults in the United States use Facebook; and some researchers claim that the average number of Facebook friends for college students is approximately 650 people (www.statista.com, 2014).…”