Impression Management on Facebook and Twitter: Where Are People More Likely to Share Positivity or Negativity with Their Audiences?

Abstract

Social media allows for people to present themselves to others however they choose. This article examines the impression management people engage in on Facebook and Twitter, specifically. Previous studies and personally conducted surveys and interviews administered within a first-year university student population were analyzed. Based on the results, this article argues that impression management is a true phenomenon and that each website creates its own type of user interactions based on various factors. This study further contributes to our knowledge of impression management in the online world and the idea that what people share with their online audience does not always accurately reflect their true selves.