Crafting a personality on MySpace
Facebook and MySpace are more than places to connect with friends and family. For young people, the social networking sites are also places where they can craft their identities and perhaps discover the kinds of people they want to be.
The Web has made it possible via text and Photoshopped pictures to become anyone or anything, and some students are taking advantage of the opportunity. A study released in the November-December issue of the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology found that there are positive and negative sides to the phenomenon.
Researchers from the Children’s Digital Media Center, Los Angeles, asked 23 ethnically diverse undergraduate students who were active MySpace users to participate in focus groups. They were asked a variety of questions, including what they liked and disliked about MySpace, if they felt that people used their profiles to present themselves a certain way, why these chose specific pictures, and if people represented themselves in a realistic light.
Responses were recorded and analyzed; the following comment was used to show how, according to the study, "social comparison can help emerging adults realize how they wish (or do not wish) to progress into adulthood": "I look at MySpace and I see that they're like engaged or married or having kids, I'm like, they're still trying to make their life look glamorous, but I mean if that's what you wanna do then I'm more than happy for you, but I can't imagine being twenty with two kids and a husband right now."
This remark revealed how MySpace allows users to present images of themselves as they evolve: "It's just a way to promote yourself to society and show everyone, 'I'm moving up in the world, I've grown, I've changed a lot since high school.' "
The site is also a way to present a side of someone that perhaps few see: "I mean obviously some people wouldn't want to go to school and like flex their muscles in front of everybody but it's like, 'Hey if you check out my MySpace, I'll show you the real cool side of me.' "
And while some may use the site to craft a different personality, it’s not always believable: "They're trying to look all hard, and they've got pictures of them with guns and drugs and stupid stuff ... they're trying to portray that they're this gangster hard type. I know these people and it's like, that is not who that person is."
-- Jeannine Stein
Photo credit: Associated Press
