Giulia Ranzini

Love at first swipe? Explaining Tinder self-presentation and motives

The emergence of location-based real-time dating (LBRTD) apps such as Tinder has introduced a new way for users to get to know potential partners nearby. The design of the apps represents a departure from “old-school” dating sites as it relies on the affordances of mobile media. This might change the way individuals portray themselves as their authentic or deceptive self. Based on survey data collected via Mechanical Turk and using structural equation modeling, we assess how Tinder users present themselves, exploring at the same time the impact of their personality characteristics, their demographics, and their motives of use. We find that self-esteem is the most important psychological predictor, fostering real self-presentation but decreasing deceptive self-presentation. The motives of use—hooking up/sex, friendship, relationship, traveling, self-validation, and entertainment—also affect the two forms of self-presentation. Demographic characteristics and psychological antecedents influence the motives for using Tinder, with gender differences being especially pronounced. Women use Tinder more for friendship and self-validation, while men use it more for hooking up/sex, traveling, and relationship seeking. We put the findings into context, discuss the limitations of our approach and provide avenues for future research into the topic.

Privacy cynicism: A new approach to the privacy paradox

Privacy concerns among Internet users are consistently found to be high. At the same time, these concerns do not appear to generate a corresponding wave of privacy protection behavior. A number of studies have addressed the apparent divergence between users’ privacy concerns and behavior, with results varying according to context. Previous research has examined user trust, lack of risk awareness and the privacy calculus as potential solutions to the “privacy paradox”. Complementing these perspectives, we propose that some users faced with seemingly overwhelming privacy threats develop an attitude of “privacy cynicism”, leading to a resigned neglect of protection behavior. Privacy cynicism serves as a cognitive coping mechanism, allowing users to rationalize taking advantage of online services despite serious privacy concerns. We conduct an interdisciplinary literature review to define the core concept, then empirically substantiate it based on qualitative data collected among German Internet users.

To you who (I think) are listening: Imaginary audience and impression management on Facebook

Abstract Users of Social Network Sites (SNS) use the networks to share content and information about themselves. In particular for “nonymous” SNS, such as Facebook, profiles are connected to real names and appearances: this increases the connection between online and offline identities and the relevance of audiences to the information users share. This can lead users to feel as though they are under someones constant observation, which can have consequences on how they present themselves on the platform. In this paper, we explore how the perception of an imaginary audience, i.e. the “others” adolescents perceive to be as concerned with themselves as they are, can inform the impression management strategies of adult Facebook users. Based on a Dutch empirical sample, and through a hierarchical regression, we explore the relationship of imaginary audience to impression management (both content-based, such as self-censorship, and audience-based, such as audience restriction). We also investigate the roles of privacy concerns, self-monitoring, age and gender on the self-presentation of users. Our results find positive effects for both imaginary audience and privacy concerns on both content and network-based impression management, while self-monitoring appears to have no effect. The age of respondents also appears to influence content-based impression management strategies, but not network-based strategies. Our paper represents a first attempt at applying the concept of imaginary audience to an adult sample of Facebook users. As imaginary audience and privacy concerns appear to have a stronger effect on content-based, rather than audience-based impression management, more research is necessary to understand how the feeling of being observed influences the information users share about themselves.

Stress 2.0: Social Media Overload among Swiss Teenagers

Technostress and information overload are serious challenges of the information age. An alarming number of people exhibit dangerously intensive media consumption, while Internet and mobile phone addictions are a widespread phenomenon. At the same time, new media overexposure among young people is understudied, even more so when social network sites are concerned. Our study explores how feelings of overexposure and stress relate to the self-expressive needs of teenagers, made explicit through their digital interactions. It presents and discusses the results of a large-scale survey conducted during an exhibition on media overload in Berne, Switzerland. A total of 6989 adolescents provided answers on their media overload and stress. Through a quantitative analysis, significant factors fostering and inhibiting SNS overload are found.

Where dating meets data: Investigating social and institutional privacy concerns on Tinder

The widespread diffusion of location-based real-time dating or mobile dating apps, such as Tinder and Grindr, is changing dating practices. The affordances of these dating apps differ from those of “old school” dating sites, for example, by privileging picture-based selection, minimizing room for textual self-description, and drawing upon existing Facebook profile data. They might also affect users’ privacy perceptions as these services are location based and often include personal conversations and data. Based on a survey collected via Mechanical Turk, we assess how Tinder users perceive privacy concerns. We find that the users are more concerned about institutional privacy than social privacy. Moreover, different motivations for using Tinder—hooking up, relationship, friendship, travel, self-validation, and entertainment—affect social privacy concerns more strongly than institutional concerns. Finally, loneliness significantly increases users’ social and institutional privacy concerns, while narcissism decreases them.

The networked communications manager : A typology of managerial social media impression management tactics

Purpose – The rise of social media has caused a shift in organizational practices, giving rise, in some cases, to genuinely “mediatized” organizations. The purpose of this paper is to explore how communications managers employ social media to influence their professional impressions. Design/methodology/approach – Analyzing a sample of 679 European communications professionals, the authors explore with factor and cluster analysis these emerging impression management tactics as well as how managers promote, involve, assist and reproach using social media. Findings – The authors distinguish four patterns of online impression management: self-promotion, assistance seeking, peer support and authority. Because different professional duties may require different approaches to impression management, the authors furthermore cluster for managerial roles, showing that in the shaping of formal or informal online roles, communication professionals convey different impressions depending on their degree of online confid...

Privacy in the Sharing Economy

Report from the EU H2020 Research Project Ps2Share: Participation, Privacy, and Power in the Sharing Economy

European Perspectives on Privacy in the Sharing Economy

The present report ‘Privacy in the Sharing Economy: European Perspectives’, covers the Privacy part of Ps2share: a European Horizon 2020 Research Project focusing on the sharing economy. Within this document, we present the results of a widespread European survey (N=6111), covering both users and non-users of sharing economy services. The first section of the report provides an overview of the privacy perceptions of users VS non-users of the sharing economy, highlighting important country differences. In the following chapters, we explore in more depth how providers within the platforms (such as Airbnb hosts, or Uber drivers) as well as consumers perceive their privacy, both online and when it comes to face-to-face interaction. In the last section, we explore impression management as a tool to control information disclosure, and the risks sharing economy users perceive from third-party reviews and comments.

Personae of Interest — Managers’ Identities and the Online Mirror

Abstract Purpose In this chapter we discuss the implications social media have for the self-representation and identity formulation of professionals within organizations. Under the assumption that new, technology-mediated networking possibilities call for a reformulation of the boundaries between the professional and the private, we propose several avenues of investigation. The concept of “online personae” is also introduced in order to describe how managers may strive for equilibrium while balancing on and offline identities with impression management efforts. Approach Proceeding conceptually, we review the existing literature and practice of managerial social media use and delineate the challenges, or “tensions” professionals have to mitigate while expressing themselves online. This allows for a full exploration of digital interaction as a quest for equilibrium, between one’s professional and personal self-expression, but also between the management of one’s impression, and the emotional attachment to a social media profile. Findings We argue that social media may challenge current conceptions of managerial identity and work practices to a degree. Social media may demand different forms of representation both to inside and outside audiences, which can lead to the mediatization of both the professional and the organization, and call for a more conscious formulation of identity and management of impressions. We argue in particular that, within this context, online personae may serve as entities (through single or multiple accounts) delineating boundaries between the various roles managers are asked to perform within their professional and personal lives. Implications Managerial awareness toward a tool such as online personae may help in critically reflecting the embeddedness of managerial practice within social networks. A critical management of personae can also help in formulating identity-based strategies for gaining access and improving the quality of connections and interactions. Ultimately, as social media become a tool for workplace collaboration, the strategic thinking behind online personae might take a progressively larger importance for the success of individuals, and for organizations at large. Originality/value The chapter introduces a managerial point-of-view to the field of digital identities, widely analyzed on samples of adolescents and young adults. This allows to investigate matters proper of a professional life, such as the management of work/life boundaries, which become increasingly blurry in the online world. The chapter also introduces the concept of “online personae,” which aims at describing with more specificities the message and audience consequences behind the choice of one single social media profile, or several coexisting ones.