How Where We Speak Affects What We Say: A Study Of Online Personalities and Social Media
Open Access
Author:
Tarriff, Ashley Lauren
Area of Honors:
Marketing
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Jennifer Chang Coupland, Thesis Supervisor Lisa Elizabeth Bolton, Faculty Reader Jennifer Chang Coupland, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Personalities Social Media Facebook Twitter Instagram Online Personalities Cattell 16 Personality Factors Marketing
Abstract:
In the modern era, more communication is achieved online than ever before. Social media creates an environment where individuals can interact with one another outside of face-to-face settings. However, not all social media websites are created equally. Each social media platform creates a different environment for dialogue. This paper explores the differences between each social media platform and attempts to determine the differences between how its users interact.
This paper includes a research study in which the social media posts of a variety of subjects were analyzed. This analysis was conducted using well-known personality inventories from Raymond Cattell and Jennifer Aaker. Cattell’s and Aaker’s research was combined to form a personality inventory against which the posts of each subject were compared. The dominant personality trait displayed by each post was pooled for each platform and then an analysis was conducted to compare the results between different platforms. This information was used to answer the research question “Do social media users display different personalities across different social media platforms?” This research provides a foundation for future research into online personalities on social media.
