This study examined the influence of gender, the Big 5 personality factors, and self-esteem on virtual self-representation in the form of avatar-self discrepancy. To examine this, participants designed characters to play in a video game, spent 20 min playing the video game, and then had their actual pictures taken. Our results indicated that, consistent with predictions, men and women generally selected self-representations consistent with ideal male and female bodies. This finding was pronounced for men and women high in agreeableness. Conversely, some results contradicted the normative prescriptions often associated with self-presentation. For instance, men did not build taller avatars than did women. Men who were high in openness to new experiences were more likely to select avatars with skin tone variations. Introverts - both male and female - and women high in neuroticism were more likely to build attractive avatars. Moreover, those with low self-esteem were more likely to select lighter skin tones than those with high self-esteem. Thus, the effects of gender and personality have considerable implications for online self-presentation and self-representation.

Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. The authors conducted an experiment to determine the effects of gender, race, online video gaming experience, and the experimental context in which participants played the video game (online vs. offline vs. no information control) on avatar selection. The qualities of the avatar compared were based on eight objective differences between avatars and individuals: attractiveness, skin tone, height, girth chest size, waist size, hip size, and height. As predicted, those with online gaming experience selected avatars that were taller, thinner, and more attractive relative to their real selves than did participants with no prior online game experience. Non-white participants selected avatars with lighter skin-tones, whereas white participants selected avatars with darker skin-tones. Surprisingly, male participants selected shorter avatars than female counterparts did.

Syfte: Syftet är att förstå vad för typ av innehåll som publiceras på Malmö FF:s officiella Twitter-konto och hur klimatet kring kontot kan beskrivas.Frågeställningar: 1. Varför använder Malmö FF och supportrarna Twitter?2. Vad kommunicerar Malmö FF ut via sitt Twitter-konto och hur kan innehållet kategoriseras och beskrivas?3. Stämmer supportrarnas/följarnas tankar kring innehållet på och klimatet kring Malmö FF:s Twitter-konto överens med klubbens tankar?Teori: Teorin som använts för att tolka empirin är huvudsakligen Erving Goffmans teori om självpresentation med fokus på front- och backstage. De teoretiska begreppen konflikt och konsensus har också använts för att beskriva resultatet.Metod: Studien är fallstudie där man arbetat med triangulering – det vill säga flera olika metoder. Studien inleddes med en innehållsanalys av Malmö FF:s Twitter-flöde. Sedan följde en semistrukturerad intervju med Malmö FF:s kommunikatör och sist genomfördes två fokusgruppsintervjuer med supportrar.Resultat och slutsats: Malmö FF och deras supportrar använder Twitter för att den plattformen har ett linjärt ”liveflöde”, möjlighet att ge och få snabb information i realtid och möjlighet att föra enkla och direkta dialoger med varandra. Innehållet på Malmö FF:s Twitter-konto har delats upp i nio kategorier som sedan kategoriserats vidare till front- eller backstage. Klubben och supportrarna har väldigt liknande tankar om hur Malmö FF bör vara på Twitter och vad de bör publicera där. Det råder stark konsensus mellan klubben och supportrarna kring Twitter och detta bidrar till en känsla av gemenskap – MFF-familjen. / Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine what content Malmö FF publishes on their official Twitter account and how the interaction linked to the account can be described.Research questions:1. Why does Malmö FF and their supporters use Twitter?2. What is published on their official account and how can the content be categorised?3. Is the content and interaction around the account perceived alike by the club and their supporters?Theory: Theories that outlined this study was Erving Goffman’s self-presentation theory which included the concept of frontstage and backstage and the theoretical perspectives conflict and consensus. Methods: The methods used in this study included content analysis of Malmö FF’s Twitter account, a semi-structured interview with Malmö FF’s communicator and focus group interviews with supporters of Malmö FF. Results and conclusion: Twitter is used for its live timeline and to share information quickly and efficiently. The content published on Malmö FF’s Twitter account can be divided into nine categories and further categorised into front- or backstage. The club and their supporters strongly agree on the way Twitter should be used, related to Malmö FF.

This study has examined how young queer people are using SNS for exploring, buildingand communicating their identities and how this may differ in the different stages ofcoming out. The aim of the study has been to broaden the field with and obtain a deeperunderstanding of how a marginalized group in society can use social media as a part inexploring and building an identity. The study was conducted with a method of semistructuredpersonal in-depth interviews with a sample of five Swedish queer people in theage span of 23-27. The result was analyzed along previous research within the field andwith a theoretical perspective of culture, representation, performative acting and selfpresentation.The result showed that young queer people are exploring, building andcommunicating their identities in different ways that varies depending on where in theprocess of coming out they are. The result showed that it was common for the queerpeople in this study to use SNS while exploring and building their queer identities, but notas common when communicating it. There were both similarities and differences in thesefindings compared to previous research.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Single women living in nineteenth- and twentieth-century America faced ever-changing, but constant, analyses of their lives. It seemed privacy was revoked when a woman chose to remain single in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, leaving them to be hyperaware and conscious of all other choices that they made in their lives. Not only was their business not theirs alone, but single women were often also defined by their lack of spouse, regardless of their accomplishments or fulfilled lives. Despite the full life that she led and ways in which her singleness allowed her to contribute to her family, friendships, and community, Julia Graydon Sharpe, a white, elite woman from Indianapolis, Indiana, was one of the many women whose legacy has been defined by her marital status. Sharpe was many things in her life: an artist and clubwoman being two of the most visible. However, it was her role as a sister, aunt, daughter, and friend that were the most fulfilling and important to her in her life as a single woman. An examination of what Sharpe saw as her defining roles within her immediate family and close friendships, as well as what coming from elite family afforded her, helps reveal the life she was able to lead and how she chose to present herself. The exploration of her many intimate roles also put into context how indispensable Sharpe’s commitment and contributions, albeit not monetary, were to her family and friends. Understanding these roles challenges the way we view the “spinsters” of the late-nineteenth to early-twentieth century.

The digitalization of today’s society has developed rapidly. The internet has become a given and the popularity of social media is ever growing. One of them being Instagram, with a vast userbase who can publish and share images and videos with each other. Thus, the users of Instagram can showcase their lives, where certain aspects are highlighted, and others are suppressed. The purpose of this study is to examine how Instagram is being used in terms of social interactions and self-presentation together with how the participants manage and adapt to potential norms and expectations which could be present on Instagram. Previous research shows that the use of Instagram could benefit social relations as well as cause isolation and solitude. Instagram could also cause the user to engage in social comparison, as users could construct and publish a certain image of everyday life which may not correspond with reality. The data was collected through the means of qualitative, semi-structural interviews, with a total of 6 participants recruited, ranging in age from 20 to 27 years. The collected data was analyzed with an inductive approach, where sociological theories were applied to the results and analysis, which consisted of Goffman’s theory of dramaturgy together with Bourdieu’s theory of capital and social space. The study showcases how the participants often publish an embellished image of reality despite their desire to remain genuine. The participants expressed the embellished image of reality on Instagram in a negative way, where they had adapted varying strategies to cope with the exposure. However, the study shows how the participants use Instagram in a positive manner to gather images for themselves, keep social contacts, and be inspired by other users. / Digitaliseringen har utvecklats i snabb takt i dagens samhälle. Internet har blivit en självklarhet och sociala medier är omåttligt populärt. Instagram är en utav flera sociala medier som har en stor användarbas där användarna kan publicera bilder och filmer för varandra. Instagramanvändare kan således visa upp sitt liv där vissa sidor av livet kan döljas eller framhävas. Syftet med studien var därför att undersöka hur Instagram används för social interaktion och självpresentation samt hur deltagarna hanterar och anpassar sig till Instagrams eventuella normer och förväntningar. Tidigare forskning visar att Instagram kan gynna sociala relationer samtidigt som det även kan leda till isolering och ensamhet. Instagram kan även leda till en social jämförelse då användare kan visa upp en bild av sig själva som ibland inte stämmer överens med verkligheten. Datamaterialet till denna studie samlades in med hjälp av kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer där totalt sex deltagare i åldrarna 20–27 år rekryterades. Det insamlade datamaterialet analyserades med en induktiv ansats där sociologiska teorier har tillämpats på studiens resultat och analys vilket bestod av Goffmans dramaturgiska perspektiv samt Bourdieus teorier om kapital och det sociala rummet. Studien visar att deltagarna ofta visar upp en förskönad bild av verkligheten trots en vilja om att vara genuin. Deltagarna upplevde den förskönade bilden av verkligheten på Instagram som negativ där de har utvecklat flera strategier för att hantera detta. Studien visar däremot att deltagarna upplever Instagram som positivt då de kan spara bilder för sig själva, hålla kontakt med vänner och bekanta samt få inspiration.

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Research has indicated that Funeral Directors and Embalmers are stigmatized for their work. Studies have shown that, although the decay of dead bodies is a stigmatized process in American culture, these particular deathcare workers are able to shift the focus of their services from the dead to the living. However, there remains a lack of research regarding deathcare workers who are not employed as Funeral Directors or Embalmers— those whose positions are not as obvious to the general public. This research explores how, why, and to what degree stigma is placed on those individuals who spend the majority of their work time in direct contact with dead bodies, as opposed to grieving family members. Interviews with funeral employees have been utilized to provide insight into this phenomenon. Results of the analysis show that frequency of contact with bodies is only one of three major factors influencing the stigma of deathcare workers. These results are examined and directions for future research are offered.

This dissertation consists of three separate, but inter-related, studies overarching a common theme labeled "the role played by social and environmental accounting disclosures using different methodologies and framed within legitimacy theory." The first study investigates the use of different language techniques in social and environmental disclosures (SED) and tests whether the impression management hypothesis holds when disclosures are measured as such. The second study extends the "legitimacy on the Internet" arguments of Patten and Crampton (2004) by examining the content and presentation of corporate website environmental disclosure in relation to firm environmental performance of four size-matched sample groups constructed based on industry environmental sensitivity and America's Toxic 100 membership (the top 100 polluters in the US). The third study investigates whether and how Total, one of the world's largest integrated oil and gas companies headquartered in France, utilized legitimation strategies such as social and environmental disclosures, to respond to two significant environmental incidents. Taken together, these three studies build upon prior theoretical and empirical work to substantiate and advance social and environmental accounting research using various methodological lenses and perspectives.

Social Network Sites (SNSs) have emerged as a new way of socializing in the internet age with TikTok being the latest platform to emerge as a worldwide phenomenon, particularly popular amongst the youth. However, there is a knowledge gap about how youth in Sweden’s self-presentation is shaped by the design of TikTok. This explorative study aims to examine what possibilities and restrictions TikTok facilitates for self-presentation and what relevance the users’ physical location, more specifically Sweden, has for their content. We conducted qualitative interviews with ten individuals between the ages of 18 and 23, living in Sweden and that have all created videos on the platform. The gathered data, analyzed using thematic analysis, resulted in five different themes, Usage, Functionality/Platform design, Socializing, Personal life and Expressing oneself; each with underlying categories and codes. From the analysis it became apparent that it is not only the design of the platform, but also its use in relation to other SNSs which shapes how users present themselves on it. The unique downplay of following friends and family as well as the encouraged use of filters and sounds from other users’ videos result in a distinct freedom of expression as well as video creation based on imitation. We also found that the platform seems to offer easy accessible tools for creative exploration without the imposed expectation of posting publicly. These findings show that youths in Sweden have a profound understanding and awareness of how SNSs can be utilized regarding self-presentation in daily life.