Skip to main content

If Narcissus had been on Facebook – Study examines personality as revealed by Facebook updates

Your Facebook friends may be revealing more about themselves than they realize when they update their status, according to a Brunel University study. The Daily Mail reported that the study centered around the Big Five personality traits: extroversion, openness, agreeableness, neuroticism and conscientiousness. Other traits that were examined included self-esteem and narcissism.

According to Dr. Tara Marshall of Brunel University, this isn’t a huge surprise to anyone who uses Facebook, but rather reinforces and confirms suspicions from those who like to read into Facebook posts a little more deeply. “It might come as little surprise that Facebook status updates reflect people’s personality traits. However, it is important to understand why people write about certain topics on Facebook,” she said.

Recommended Videos

Researchers found that extroverts were not motivated by likes but rather by interaction with others on social media. People who scored high in neuroticism sought validation from others. When they received more likes and comments, they experienced social inclusion, in contrast to those who didn’t receive any likes or comments.

According to the study, narcissists in particular are motivated by likes, and generally point out their personal achievements. They also like to post about diet and exercise. Their polar opposites are those who scored high in openness. These people don’t seek out likes (and thus don’t post for social interaction), and prefer to post about politics and other intellectual topics.

Conscientious users, however, posted mostly about their romantic partners (and, if they have them, children). The study notes that these people aren’t very active on Facebook, and tend to be more aware of how others view their status updates.

If you have low self-esteem and happen to be in a relationship, prepare to be shunned — the study noted that people with low self-esteem also post about their romantic partners, but far more frequently than conscientious users. Their motivations are to address insecurities and demonstrate to others that their relationship is stable. These people as a group receive less likes and comments.

However, the researchers did note that more studies must be done — specifically on how subjects’ Facebook friends react to updates in real life and online.

Jose Alvarez
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Introduced to tech at a young age, Jose has grown attached to video games in particular. He has covered topics such as…
Bluesky finally adds a feature many had been waiting for
A blue sky with clouds.

Bluesky has been making a lot of progress in recent months by simplifying the process to sign up while at the same time rolling out a steady stream of new features.

As part of those continuing efforts, the social media app has just announced that users can now send direct messages (DMs).

Read more
Reddit just achieved something for the first time in its 20-year history
The Reddit logo.

Reddit’s on a roll. The social media platform has just turned a profit for the first time in its 20-year history, and now boasts a record 97.2 million daily active users, marking a year-over-year increase of 47%. A few times during the quarter, the figure topped 100 million, which Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman said in a letter to shareholders had been a “long-standing milestone” for the site.

The company, which went public in March, announced the news in its third-quarter earnings results on Tuesday.

Read more
Worried about the TikTok ban? This is how it might look on your phone
TikTok splash screen on an Android phone.

The US Supreme Court has decided to uphold a law that would see TikTok banned in the country on January 19. Now, the platform has issued an official statement, confirming that it will indeed shut down unless it gets some emergency relief from the outgoing president.

“Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19,” said the company soon after the court’s verdict.
So, what does going dark mean?
So, far, there is no official statement on what exactly TikTok means by “going dark.” There is a lot of speculation out there on how exactly the app or website will look once TikTok shutters in the US.

Read more