Nina Haferkamp

Social Comparison 2.0: Examining the Effects of Online Profiles on Social Networking Sites

Through their features--such as profile photographs or the personal vita--online profiles on social-networking sites offer a perfect basis for social comparison processes. By looking at the profile photograph, the user gains an impression of a persons physical attractiveness, and the users vita shows which career path the person is pursuing. Against the background of Festingers Social Comparison Theory, the focus of this research is on the effects of online profiles on their recipients. Therefore, qualitative interviews (N = 12) and two online experiments were conducted in which virtual online profiles of either physically attractive or unattractive persons (N = 93) and profiles of users with either high or low occupational attainment (N = 103) were presented to the participants. Although qualitative interviews did not initially give reason to expect online profiles to constitute a basis for comparison processes, results of the experiments proved otherwise. The first study indicates that recipients have a more negative body image after looking at beautiful users than persons who were shown the less attractive profile pictures. Male participants of the second study, who were confronted with profiles of successful males, showed a higher perceived discrepancy between their current career status and an ideal vita than male participants who looked at profiles of less successful persons.

Training disaster communication by means of serious games in virtual environments

The training of social skills in organizational settings has become more and more important for an effective communicative exchange between members of staff. Especially in companies where the line of communication has to be fast and unmistakable, e.g. in crisis management units, the regular training of communication skills is therefore indispensable. The DREAD-ED project proposes an innovative, technology-based teaching methodology to meet these needs. The methodology provides a serious game which enables its users to train soft skills in a virtual environment under safe conditions. The current paper presents the results of two trials conducted with crisis managers and university students in Germany.

Online Self-Presentation: Balancing Privacy Concerns and Impression Construction on Social Networking Sites

Reaching the milestone figure of 500 million members in July 2010, the growth of the social networking site Facebook has rapidly accelerated. Currently, its membership figures would make it the third largest country in the world, suggesting that participation in online social networks has become more than a cursory phenomenon. Members of Facebook are required to create an individualized online profile that provides information about themselves, their physical appearance, individual tastes, and preferences (see Liu 2007; Liu et al. 2006), and that highlights certain aspects of their own personality. By means of these features, users inevitably construct and manage impressions of their self. Research has already shown that such a personal webpage even allows a more detailed self-presentation than a casual face-to-face interaction and that people indeed make use of it in order to emphasize certain aspects of their “true” self (Bargh et al. 2002; Haferkamp and Kramer 2010). Additionally, empirical findings indicate that social networking sites (SNSs) are not only a potential means for self-presentation but that people are indeed highly motivated to use this new arena for presenting themselves (Haferkamp and Kramer 2010). In doing this, they even adopt profile elements that have originally been provided for other purposes (e.g., people become a member of a group in order to display their attitudes and interests instead of in order to communicate with others, Haferkamp and Kramer 2009). This tendency might be due to the fundamental motive of every human being to present him/herself in a positive way and, in doing so, gain positive reactions from those forming an impression (Leary 1995; Leary and Kowalski 1990).

Disaster readiness through education - training soft skills to crisis units by means of serious games in virtual environments

The training of soft skills in organizational settings has become very important for an effective communicative exchange between members of staff. Especially in companies where the line of communication has to be fast and unmistakable, e.g. in crisis management units, the regular training of communication skills is therefore indispensable. The DREAD-ED project proposes a technology-based teaching methodology to meet these needs. The methodology provides a serious game which enables its users to train soft skills in a virtual environment under safe conditions. The current paper presents the results of two trials conducted with crisis managers and university students.

Bildung zum Download? Der Einfluss von Print- und Online-Medien auf das Allgemeinwissen

Verlage behaupten gerne einen positiven Effekt der Lekture von Zeitungen und Zeitschriften auf das Allgemeinwissen: Hinter jeder FAZ steckt ein vermeintlich kluger Kopf, und SPIEGEL-Leser wissen angeblich mehr. Aber welcher Zusammenhang besteht wirklich zwischen Medienkonsum und Allgemeinwissen? Der Beitrag untersucht, inwieweit Mediennutzung das Allgemeinwissen beeinflusst. Zumindest fur einzelne Medien wird ein Zusammenhang entdeckt. Wer die Internet-Seiten von SPIEGEL ONLINE oder die Print-Ausgabe des SPIEGEL liest, erzielt ein besseres Test-Ergebnis. Am Beispiel von Doktoranden und Arbeitssuchenden zeigt sich, dass Medienkonsum auch im Zusammenwirken mit dem Tatigkeitsfeld einen Effekt auf das Allgemeinwissen hat. Allerdings ergibt sich nicht das aufgrund der Wissenskluft-Hypothese erwartete Muster, dass der Wissensunterschied zwischen Doktoranden und Arbeitslosen groser wird, je intensiver die Doktoranden Medien nutzen.