People are motivated to self evaluate and undertake this in their interactions with others. Interactions with others are increasingly taking place online, including via social networking websites, which can contain several differences to face to face interaction. This thesis examined how specific self-evaluation factors (self-esteem, social comparison tendency and self-concept clarity) affect various behaviours on and psychological outcomes of engaging with social media sites, including Facebook. Self-esteem predicted positive mood during Facebook use, whilst one’s relationship with the site (i.e. how emotionally connected to the site one is – or ‘Facebook intensity’) predicted engagement with activities interpreted as indicative of a ‘fear-of-missing-out’ (e.g. finding out what friends were up to). High scorers in performance and appearance self-esteem reported a positive mood shift after profile editing whilst low scoring counterparts reported the reverse. Those who compared to others frequently experienced a negative mood shift after viewing the Facebook newsfeed possibly reflecting the cognitive effort associated with social comparison. Self-esteem predicted use of positive emotions in status updates whilst number of Facebook friends was negatively predicted by self-concept clarity and positively by social comparison tendency. Participants textually described both their actual and ideal self enabling consideration of the implications for self-presentation attempts in certain online environments. Low self-esteem individuals decreased their use of anxious language when idealising the self whilst those with low self-concept clarity increased their use of positive emotions. The discrepant word count between actual and ideal selves suggested that the actual self appeared more easily articulated, most 4 pronounced amongst those who infrequently compared themselves to others. When others rated these self descriptions it appeared high scorers in self-esteem and self-concept clarity and those who compared frequently to others were generally most positively received. It appears that whilst those with unclear self-concepts and low self-esteem can present a more positive and less anxious idealised self than actual self, the overall thesis findings appear to support the rich-get-richer hypothesis (Valkenburg, Schouten, & Peter, 2005) with high scorers on these self-evaluation factors garnering the most benefits from social media. Whilst those who compare frequently may be adversely impacted by viewing the Facebook newsfeed, idealisation of self attributes appears to benefit these individuals in terms of positivity of impressions formed by others. Findings suggest that social media engagement may hold advantages and disadvantages for users dependent on the type of activity engaged with and the individual differences variables of the user.

This study aimed to examine online Mormon self-presentation, specifically in the context of Mormon.org and LDSSingles.com (LDSSO). To examine the different styles of self-presentation used in Mormon.org and LDSSO profiles, this study drew upon self-presentation theory (Goffman, 1959; Jones, 1990; Jones & Pittman, 1982) and analyzed profiles according to Dominick's (1990) definitions of Jones and Pittman's (1982) five self-presentation strategies. In addition, this study examined the relationship between a profile poster's sex and the self-presentation strategies exhibited in his or her Mormon.org or LDSSO profile. Content analysis of 100 (50 male and 50 female) Mormon.org and 100 (50 male and 50 female) LDSSO profiles revealed ingratiation (LDSSO) and self-promotion (Mormon.org) as the leading self-presentation strategies in the profile sample. Additionally, this study found that exemplification was the second most prevalent self-presentation strategy in both Mormon.org and LDSSO profiles. These results indicate that online Mormon profilers want to be perceived as moral, devout, and admirable, not only likeable and competent and that Mormon profilers may tailor their self-presentation strategies to accomplish social goals. No statistically significant difference was found between a profile poster's sex and the individual or predominant self-presentation strategies, suggesting that Mormon conversion and values may influence Mormon discussion, interpersonal interaction, and ultimately, one's self-presentation.

Diploma thesis Mediatization as a consequence of self-presentation on social networks: publishing norms and their influence on Instagram users explores how Instagram and its affordances are able to change the behavior of its users, focusing on the aspect of photo sharing and related publishing norms. The aim of this work is to find out the practices which users do with photos and because of them before sharing them on Instagram, but above all it is about deeper understanding of the detected behavior and exploring whether and how such behavior interferes with users' lives. Within the theoretical part, the reader is acquainted with the development of the image, the origin of photography, its manipulations and changes in the digital era. Furthermore, the thesis presents visual social networks, the principles of Instagram operation and findings from current studies on the topic of self-presentation on social networks. In the last part, I deal specifically with Instagram photography, its types, methods of editing and sharing, based mainly on two current studies on this topic, the authors of which are Lev Manovich and Elisa Serafinelli. The second half of the thesis presents the research methodology, its design, results and final summary.

Cette thèse est une enquête multi-perspective sur le phénomène d’utilisation des médias sociaux dans le contexte organisationnel. Il met l’accent sur les processus d’adoption de cette nouvelle technologie et examine comment ces développements sont intégrés dans le contexte des normes professionnelles, des rôles sociaux, du contrôle de l’organisation et de l’autonomie. Le cadre de la recherche est basé sur la campagne de mise en œuvre des médias sociaux de 19 mois par une organisation centrale européenne de médias comme un moyen d’améliorer la communication et la coordination au sein de l’organisation. La mise en œuvre comprenait deux départements, journalistes et agents de publicité, qui ont été invités à créer et ouvrir leurs profils de médias sociaux en ligne et ajouter leurs collègues comme « amis ». La thèse comprend quatre documents de recherche, chacun prenant une perspective distincte sur le phénomène. Méthodologiquement, la thèse se fonde sur une approche d’étude qualitative de cas et raisonnements adductifs et inductifs. La thèse fournit des contributions théoriques et pratiques à la compréhension des conditions normatives préalables, le processus et les conséquences d’utilisation des médias sociaux dans le contexte organisationnel pour les normes professionnelles, la collaboration de connaissances en ligne et le contrôle de l’organisation, tout en présentant la coévolution de la signification et l’utilisation de la technologie. / This dissertation is a multi-perspective inquiry into the phenomenon of social media use in organizational context. It focuses on the processes of enactment of this new technology and investigates how these developments are embedded in the context of occupational norms, social roles, organizational control and autonomy. The research setting is based on the 19-month social media implementation campaign by a central European media organization as a means of enhancing communication and coordination within the organization. The implementation encompassed two departments, journalists and advertising agents, who were asked to create and open their online social media profiles and befriend their colleagues. The dissertation comprises four research papers each taking a separate perspective on the phenomenon. Methodologically, the dissertation builds on qualitative case-study approach and abductive and inductive reasonings. The thesis provides theoretical and practical contributions to the understanding normative prerequisites, process and consequences of social media use in organizational context for occupational norms, online knowledge collaboration and organizational control while presenting co-evolution of the technology meaning and use.