Third person effect (TPE) can be described as people's tendency to perceive that mass media has only minimal influence on them but greater influence on other people, which would be the "third person".
In the study conducted by Dr. Angela Paradise and Meghan Sullivan from Stonewall College, a survey was designed to help get a better understanding on young adults and how they perceive the negative effects of Facebook use on themselves versus other people. It included 357 undergraduate students that were given a 15 minute survey which measured the use of Facebook, third person perceptual items, third person behavioral items, and demographic information.
Personal Relationships, Future Employments, and Privacy Concerns can be Majorly Affected Negatively by Facebook use
Although Facebook can be used to keep people connected, it can also damage friendship and romantic partnerships. People who continuously post negative content on their profiles can cause increased negative social judgements. Young adults are more likely to rate other's personal relationships as more negatively affected by Facebook use than their own.
When it came to the perception of personal relationships being effected negatively, respondents said that their closest friends were just as likely to be effected as they were. These participants believed themselves and their closest friends to be immune to the negative effects of Facebook use.
Employers consistently use Facebook as a way to conduct background research on future employees. About 45% of hiring managers have said that they use Facebook as a way to find more information on potential hires and incoming staff. College students can be affected the most in this category because of their regular uploading of pictures, whether it is of them partying or drinking. Pictures can then be seen by employers and will most likely display a misleading image of the individual.
This study found that many people see themselves as smarter than other people which leads to the conclusion of them always feeling less likely to be effected negatively.
The Ability to make an Online Profile can Boost Ones Self-Esteem Temporarily
Facebook can be manipulated to portray an ideal perception of oneself to those who can view it, It can be used as a way to escape reality and gives someone the ability to only post the good positive things in their lives. With the use of Facebook, objective self-awareness can increase significantly.
- greater sense of humility
- downgraded ratings of self
- increased prosocial behavior
The participants in the room with Facebook were told to look through any tab on their profile and were given no further instruction. The group that was exposed to the self-analyzing stimulus of Facebook were asked to wait three minutes and then were to complete the survey. The other two test groups, the one with both Facebook and the mirror and the control group, were given the survey right away.
The survey had to two separate measures:
- self-esteem
- selective self-presentation
The use of Facebook has many positive effects that allow users to strengthen and connect to another world and be their optimal self. Its a way to connect with each other and share experiences and thoughts, however with too much Facebook use, the negative effects will inevitably outweigh the positive ones.
Firstly, the headline and subheads are all extremely explanatory. I know exactly what I am going to be reading about before I even start reading. Secondly, I also noticed that the placement of photos, graphs and text are all accurate and make reading very simple.
ReplyDeleteThe description of the terms used are succinct and helpful. Any word or term I was not certain of was explained in a following paragraph. The paragraphs were short and to the point and I really felt like I learned something that I didn’t know. The second paragraph’s mention of the relation to college students made me reflect on my own Facebook use and think about hiring managers’ perceptions of my on social media brand. In addition, breaking down the results of objective self-awareness into bullets let me focus on each idea individually and paused my eye as it read down the page because it forced me to process each point individually.
My biggest criticism of the piece is that it provided a comprehensive analysis of some of the effects of Facebook, but then did not completely connect all of the different studies discussed. I think another subhead with a bit more of a conclusion would be helpful.
Overall, I think it was really well done though. Everything was clear and I agreed with all the points made. To further the discussion, in an article (http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/03/14/how-social-media-affects-our-self-perception/) by Kelsey Sunstrum, she discusses that the same ideas can be applied to Instagram as well. As undergraduates, we think we’re not affected by comparison on social media but Sunstrum suggests that even adults can be influenced by this and we can suffer from “smiling depression.”
Smiling depression is depression that a person has, who you would never assume has depression. She indicates that social media constructs our own self-image which is not always in line with our ideal selves. This is called self-actualization. When we do not have self-actualization, social media can contribute significantly to an individual’s smiling depression.