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Online Self-Presentation on Facebook and Self Development During the College Transition

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Abstract

Self-presentation, a central element of young people’s identity development, now extends from face-to-face contexts to social networking sites. Online self-presentation may change when youth transition to college, faced with the need to reclaim or redefine themselves in the new environment. Drawing on theories of self-presentation and self development, this study explores changes in youth’s online self-presentation during their transition to a residential college. It also examines associations between online self-presentation and students’ self-esteem and self-concept clarity. We surveyed 218 college freshmen (M age = 18.07; 64 % female, 79 % White) at the beginning and again at the end of their first semester. Freshmen’s Facebook self-presentation became less restricted later in the semester. Broad, deep, positive, and authentic Facebook self-presentation was positively associated with perceived support from the audience, which contributed to higher self-esteem contemporaneously, though not longitudinally. Intentional Facebook self-presentation engaged students in self-reflection, which was related to lower self-concept clarity concurrently but higher self-esteem longitudinally. Findings clarified the paths from multifaceted online self-presentation to self development via interpersonal and intrapersonal processes during college transition.

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Author Contribution

C-cY conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination, collected data, performed the statistical analyses, interpreted the results, and drafted the manuscript; BBB participated in the design and coordination of the study, interpreted the results, and critically revised the manuscript. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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  1. Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Research, University of Memphis, 303D Ball Hall, Memphis, TN, 38152, USA

    Chia-chen Yang

  2. Department of Educational Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 880A, 1025 West Johnson Street, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    B. Bradford Brown

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  1. Chia-chen Yang
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Correspondence to Chia-chen Yang.

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Yang, Cc., Bradford Brown, B. Online Self-Presentation on Facebook and Self Development During the College Transition. J Youth Adolescence 45, 402–416 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-015-0385-y

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