The Current Study
It is hoped that this study will throw light on the two major issues highlighted by the literature review
- relationship to internet usage
- strength of attachment to Facebook
- actual granularity of Facebook itself
Internet addiction
- much debate sparked since Young (1996) presented a paper at APA
- debate has ebbed and flowed
- initially, not many papers in respected journals
- wealth of Asian and non-US research has begun to turn the tide
- still no accepted definition, but looks likely to enter DSM-V
Meerkerk a,van den Eijnden, Franken & Garretsen (in press)
- suggest that Internet users who are characterized by an impulsive personality feature, are less able to control their use of the Internet
- more important than psychosocial wellbeing factors
- ‘Compulsive Internet Use Scale’ (2009)
- also suggest sensation-seeking and sociability
Internet Usage
Kim, Namkoong, Ku, Kim (2008)
- relationship between online game addiction and aggression,
- self-control and narcissistic personality traits
Ross, Orr, Sisic, Arseneault, Simmering, & Orr. (2009) Computers in Human Behaviour
•Five-Factor Model of personality
- personality factors were not as influential as previous literature would suggest
- extraverts belong to more groups, may use Facebook as a social tool
- recommend that other, more specific personality traits may be involved
- mention narcissism and desire for communication, seeking of social support and entertainment value (p. 582)
Also, in relation to Facebook itself
while Ellison et al (2007) have a Motivations for using Facebook scale
worth noting both that
Facebook has changed a lot since
Wehril (2008). ETH Zurich Sociology Working Paper
•Personality factors
- extraversion as a major driving force in the tie formation process.
- positive effect for neuroticism,
- negative influence for conscientiousness
- no effects for openness or agreeableness.
Tong, Van Der Heide & Langwell (2008) – published in Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication
•deemed Kleck, Reese, Behnken, and Sundar’s (2007) paper ‘exploratory’
•also upper-bound limit of 261 ‘friends’ too low
•experimented with 102, 302, 502, 702, and 902 ‘friends’
•found a curvilinear relationship between number of friends and an individual’s social attractiveness
•peaks at about 300 friends
Surprisingly, no research has matched Facebook usage with Internet usage
- debate on ‘Internet Addiction’ has been going on for over a decade (O’Reilly, 1996)
- seems likely that if someone is a high user of Facebook, they also spend a lot of time on the internet
Wilson, Fornasier, & White (2009) CyberPsychology & Behaviour
- also used Five Factor model
- similar lack of luck in finding predictors
Ellison, Steinfield, Lampe (2007) – published in CyberPsychology & Behavior
•strong association between use of Facebook and bridging social capital
•usage was found to interact with measures of psychological wellbeing, specifically self-esteem
Social Networking
Lampe, Ellison & Steinfield (2006b) – paper presented
•what Facebook is being used for
olargely to learn more about people met offline
ounlikely to be used to initiate new connections
What does this not tell us?
Additionally
Widyanto & Griffiths (2006) 'Internet addiction' A critical review.
- what it is that they are addicted to remains unclear
Kleck, Reese, Behnken, & Sundar (2007) – paper presented
•impression management and self-presentation
o“you are perceived as being more popular, sexy, and attractive and have a higher level of self confidence, when your social network on your Facebook page includes a greater number of friends” (p.21)
ohowever, upper-bound limit was 261 friends
Buffardi & Campbell (2008) - Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
•the manifestation of narcissism in social networking sites
- strangers coding webpages
- Narcissism predicted
- higher levels of social activity in the online community
- more self-promoting content in several aspects of the social networking Web pages
- also mentions self-promotion
All this research taking place at Michigan State
Ellison, Lampe & Steinfield (2006a) – paper presented
•Explored the role of Facebook in creating ‘social capital’
•resources created through personal relationships
•early use of ‘Facebook Intensity Scale’
Facebook is part of my everyday activity
I am proud to tell people I'm on Facebook
Facebook has become part of my daily routine
I feel out of touch when I haven't logged onto Facebook for a while
I feel I am part of the Facebook community
I would be sorry if Facebook shut down
What does this tell us?
- Big Five model unwieldy for predicting Facebook usage
- except certain aspects of extraversion – sociability
- narcissism probably represents a useful avenue for research
No-one has really asked any questions about previous, and future social networks
- was Myspace any good at generating ‘social capital’?
- if someone is very good at building bonds on Facebook, what will they do when the ‘next big thing’ comes along? who will leave first?
Facebook User Profiling:
Factors Underlying Intensity and Loyalty
Ciarán Mc Mahon, Ph.D.
Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology
What is this research about?
a)identifying the psychological traits of the keenest Facebook users
b)identifying those Facebook users most likely to leave Facebook for the ‘next big thing’
Social networks
- boyd & Ellison (2008) – resumé of the history of social networks
- there have been several
- Facebook now has almost half a billion users
- is it becoming the ‘Google of social networks’?
- or will it become another Bebo?
Research Questions
•Can previous correlations between Facebook usage and certain specific personality variables be supported?
•Is there a correlation between Facebook usage and Internet usage
•How loyal are Facebook users to the site? can this be predicted by
- motivation
- personality
- features?
Study 1 Qualitative - exploratory
- Focus group
- Elite/high end Facebook users
- recruited to online focus group
- Private discussion group on Facebook
Study 3
Quantitative – Exploratory
- Motivations for using Facebook (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2007; Lampe, Ellison & Steinfield, 2008)
- sensation-seeking (mentioned in Meerkerk et al. 2010 in relation to CIU; ‘BSSS-8’)
- impulsivity/impulse control (also suggested by Meerkerk et al. in relation to CIU, ‘DII’)
- self-control (suggested by Kim et al. 2008, in relation to online game addiction; Tangney, Baumeister & Boone, 2004: Brief Self Control measure)
- self-promotion (hinted by Buffardi et al. 2008; Wayne & Ferris, 1990, factor 1; previously used as self-promotion by Orpen, 1996)
- privacy concerns (Acquisti & Gross, 2006)
Propopsed Methodology
Three Studies
1. Focus Group - Exploratory
2. Questionnaire - Confirmatory
3. Questionnaire - Exploratory
Status updates
- If you can't get online to check your account, how do you feel? (like if your computer breaks, or you lose connection to the internet) How important is it to you to update your status regularly?
Features
- What do you find are the most addictive features of Facebook? Are they the social features (like Chat, Groups, or your Wall) or is it more technological (Applications, Games, Live Feed)?
- Selected at random
- over 18
- public profile
- above 450 friends, at least
Enhancements
- How would you improve Facebook? - to suit your own usage?
Discussion points
Individual differences
- Why, in your opinion, do some people use Facebook a lot - and other people just don't get it?
Ellison cut-off at 400
Tong et al (2008) social attractiveness peaks at 300
Hence, above that point no longer rewarding
Also high levels of ‘pages’ joined, 50+
No data on this
Deletion
- Would you ever delete your Facebook account - permanently? Or can you see yourself ever letting your account go stale? Why?
Other factors possibly of interest
- Conformity (Jackson Personality Inventory)
- Conscientiousness
- Originality
- Creativity
- Unconventionality
- Variety-seeking
- (all from the IPIP)
Study 2
Quantitative - Confirmatory
- Compulsive Internet Use Scale (Meerkerk, Van Den Eijnden, Vermulst, & Garretsen, 2009)
- Facebook Intensity Scale (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2007) Modified
- Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI; Raskin & Terry, 1988; hinted by Buffardi et al. 2008)
- Extraversion: sociability (IPIP version of CPI; suggested by Meerkerk et al. in relation to CIU
Measures to be developed
- Facebook Departure Inventory
- Attachment to Facebook brand scale
- Facebook Loyalty Scale
Rationale for the study
Why is any of this important?
Well, apart from the near half-billion users that Facebook has achieved in over the last six years...
representing the fastest growth in human society that statistics can comprehend ....
Have a listen to this, David Nicholas at UCL, discussing the changing nature of knowledge acquisition
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/digitalrevolution/2009/12/rushes-sequences-david-nichola.shtml
Not to mention
- brand loyalty
- brand attachment
As well as issues mentioned in the media
- privacy issues
- killer-applications
- layout changes
- advertisments
- shopping
Hence, we need to examine social processes
- conventionality
- trend-setting
- self-promotion
- conscientiousness
- conformity
- variety-seeking