The Role of Friends’ Appearance and Behavior on Evaluations of Individuals on Facebook: Are We Known by the Company We Keep?

Abstract

This research explores how cues deposited by social partners onto one's online networking profile affect observers' impressions of the profile owner. An experiment tested the relationships between both (a) what one's associates say about a person on a social network site via ''wall postings,'' where friends leave public messages, and (b) the physical attractiveness of one's associates reflected in the photos that accompany their wall postings on the attractiveness and credibility observers attribute to the target profile owner. Results indicated that profile owners' friends' attractiveness affected their own in an assimilative pattern. Favorable or unfavorable statements about the targets interacted with target gender: Negatively valenced messages about certain moral behaviors increased male profile owners' perceived physical attractiveness, although they caused females to be viewed as less attractive.Forming and managing impressions is a fundamental process, and one that has been complicated by new communication technologies. As computer-mediated communication (CMC) has diffused, successive technological variations raise new questions about interpersonal impressions. For example, with people meeting via text-based CMC-e-mail, discussion groups, or chat spaces of various kinds-a variety of questions arose about impression formation and management. These included whether and at what rate impressions are formed online (Walther, 1993), how online impressions may be like or unlike offline impressions (Jacobson, 1999), and how people judge the authenticity of self-presentation online (Donath, 1999). With further developments of Internet-hosted technologies, however, people can garner

The effect of social network sites on adolescents' social and academic development: Current theories and controversies

“…Walther and colleagues have shown that an individual (on Facebook) is consistently rated as physically and socially attractive when his or her friends are also attractive (Walther, Van Der Heide, Kim, Westerman, & Tong, 2008). Positive and negative comments left on a person's Facebook wall also greatly influence whether they are seen as attractive.…”

“…Teenagers must also add or reject friend requests from their peers, navigating the complicated web of friendship practices (Ito et al, 2009). Finally, the interactions and feedback that one's network provides in SNS-through wall posts and comments-show how complex social identity and peer influence processes occur in these online communities (Subrahmanyam, Reich, Waechter, & Espinoza, 2008;Walther et al, 2008Walther et al, , 2009.…”

Technology Adoption by Elderly People – An Empirical Analysis of Adopters and Non-Adopters of Social Networking Sites

“…Such a high number of users could be explained by the variety of SNS possibilities. Each SNS user can communicate with friends or strangers, maintain relationships, enlarge their circle of friends, share private information, collaborate or just have fun ( [24]; [51]; [62]; [65]; [67]; [72]). Due to this, many people integrated social network sites in their daily routine ( [43], [65], [72]) and spend there between 10 minutes and 3 hours every day ( [28]; [68]; [62]).…”

“…Apart from that, many people use SNS to share private information like photos or videos or try to enlarge their circle of friends. Others just pursue the aim to collaborate or to have fun while playing online games and compete with friends ( [24]; [51]; [62]; [65]; [67]; [72]). Additionally further SNS (such as Xing or LinkedIn) support the application process of job seekers by providing the possibility to upload CVs, connect with their job network or communicate with recruiters and headhunters for job offers [74].…”

“…Although modern information technology offers various advantages and is used by many people -often daily ( [43], [65], [72]) -the amount of people that are not willing to use and adopt to SNS is surprising ( [41]; [57]; [58]; [75]). In Germany there are around 50 Million people who do not have a profile in a SNS.…”