Self-Presentation and Gender on MySpace.

By A. Manago, Michael B. Graham, Patricia M. Greenfield, Goldie Salimkhan. 2008

735 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract Within the cultural context of MySpace, this study explores the ways emerging adults experience social networking. Through focus group methodology, the role of virtual peer interaction in the development of personal, social, and gender identities was investigated. Findings suggest that college students utilize MySpace for identity exploration, engaging in social comparison and expressing idealized aspects of the selves they wish to become. The public nature of self and relationship displays introduce feedback mechanisms by which emerging adults can legitimize images as associated with the self. Also, male–female differences in self-presentation parallel, and possibly intensify, gender norms offline. Our study suggests that social networking sites provide valuable opportunities for emerging adults to realize possible selves; however, increased pressure for female sexual objectification and intensified social comparison may also negatively impact identity development. A balanced view, presenting both opportunities and drawbacks, should be encouraged in policies regarding youth participation in social networking sites.

Subfields: Communication, Gender Studies, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/626c65de69668a61ad47004a70929e84cb0ee18a

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Citations in the corpus

The pedagogy of regret: Facebook, binge drinking and young women (2012, background): “The literature in this field is now staggering, but samples from a range of disciplines include Manago et al. (2008), Walther et al. (2008), Buffardi and Campbell (2008), Bortree (2005),Walker (2000), Schau and Gilly (2003), Dominick (1999) and Livingstone (2008), who specifically focuses on ‘risk’.”
Facebook and self-perception: Individual susceptibility to negative social comparison on facebook. (2015, background): “Because emerging adults' Facebook posts and pictures frequently display the user as popular (Zhao et al., 2008) and physically attractive (Manago et al., 2008), negative social comparison on Facebook likely influences self-perceptions in the domains of social competence and physical appearance.”
The Selfie Generation: Examining the Relationship Between Social Media Use and Early Adolescent Body Image (2019, background): “Previous evidence suggests that people post on social media with their network of friends in mind, which may further encourage experiencing the body from an outside perspective (Manago et al., 2008).”
Teen girls, sexual double standards and ‘sexting’: Gendered value in digital image exchange (2013, background): “…networking sites argue the very architecture (Papacharissi, 2009) of digital profiles enables visual, bodily ‘objectification’ and intensified forms of rating and comparison of both women’s and men’s bodies (Manago et al., 2008; Siibak, 2010; Dobson, 2011; Ringrose, 2011; Garcı́a Gómez, 2013).”
The Internet and Adolescent Girls’ Weight Satisfaction and Drive for Thinness (2010, background): “One focus group discussion of Myspace profiles (Manago et al. 2008) confirmed impression management as a major goal, whereby individuals try to present themselves in socially desirable ways.”
Envy on Facebook: A Hidden Threat to Users' Life Satisfaction? (2013, background): “Women, on the other hand, stress their physical attractiveness and sociability [33].”