title: Online Self-Presentation on Facebook and Self Development During the College Transition.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Research, University of Memphis, 303D Ball Hall, Memphis, TN, 38152, USA. cyang2@memphis.edu.
authors.forename: Chia-chen
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 880A, 1025 West Johnson Street, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
authors.forename: B Bradford
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D012649:Self Concept; D060756:Social Networking; D012938:Social Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities
keywords: College transition; Identity; Self-concept clarity; Self-esteem; Self-presentation; Social media; Social networking site