Most Faceookers use the site to show a 'real' rather than an 'idealised' version of themselves, according to the study
People are using online social networks to express their true selves, rather than idealised versions of their personalities, according to new research.
More than 700million people worldwide now have online profiles on various websites.
Psychologist Sam Gosling from the University of Texas at Austin said for most users the sites satisfied a basic need to be 'known by others.'
'I was surprised by the findings because the widely held assumption is that people are using their profiles to promote an enhanced impression of themselves,' he said.
'In fact, our findings suggest that online social networking profiles convey rather accurate images of the profile owners, either because people aren't trying to look good or because they are trying and failing to pull it off.'
Facebook, Twitter and Bebo are all being used 'much like the telephone' as another medium for social interaction, rather than for providing positive spin.
And because they are virtual communities, embarassing photos that the profile user may not choose to post, are often posted by others anyway.
The researchers used questionnaires to assess the profile owners' actual personality characteristics as well as their ideal-personality traits (how they wished to be).
In the study, observers rated the profiles of people they did not know. These ratings were then compared to the profile owners' actual personality and their ideal-personality.
Personality impressions based on online social network profiles were accurate and were not affected by profile owners' self-idealization.
'I think that being able to express personality accurately contributes to the popularity of online social networks in two ways,' says Gosling.
'First, it allows profile owners to let others know who they are and, in doing so, satisfies a basic need to be known by others.
'Second, it means that profile viewers feel they can trust the information they glean from online social network profiles, building their confidence in the system as a whole.'
Gosling recently co-authored a study on how first impressions do matter when it comes to communicating personality through appearance. For his latest personality research, he focuses his attention to personality in relation to online social networks.
His findings will be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
