How does comment shape the self?

Joseph Reagle

Our question(s)

  1. Why do people post?
  2. Flattery vs feedback
  3. Well-being
  4. Quantification
  5. What to do?

Why?

Am I ugly?

O’Neil Quitting

Ask me anything

Problematic anonymous Q&A

Why do people participate?

entertainment; self-disclosure; attention; social solidarity; self-harm

Why the app churn?

[Formspring was replaced by Ask.fm because] as a former Formspring executive concluded … “When you took out the nasty, salacious, anonymous part of Formspring, it became a lot less interesting to people.”22 (Reagle 2015)

Snapchat suspended … Yolo and LMK, after being sued by the distraught parents of teens who committed suicide. (Maddox 2022)

Flattery versus feedback

What is self-esteem?

And how is it related to this is part of self-concept?

self-esteem
the self-evaluation of one’s worth
self-concept
the totality of thoughts and feelings about one’s self (e.g., religion & gender) (Mehdizadeh 2010, p. 357-58).

Is this good for self-esteem?

Thank you all so freakin’ much for the support!!!! I cried reading these comments and my self esteem improved tenfold. The kindness from you all is overwhelming. :)! As for the boyfriend thing… Yes I’m still very lonely, but you give me hope that one day I’ll find my true love. Hopefully someone who can tolerate my late night math. Maybe my wonky eye will even turn him on!!!! (Wellfuq 2013)

Avoidance vs coping

avoidance is based on psychological processes that deny or distort unpleasant psychological realities. [BednarPeterson 1995, “Self-esteem”, p. 96]

Coping involves a candid and realistic facing-up to threatening situations… [and] requires personal introspection, personal honesty, and a willingness to acknowledge openly the imperfections in the self. (BednarPeterson 1995, “Self-esteem”, p. 85)

Studies of FB & mirrors?

tuned mannequin

  • Exposure to the subjects’ Facebook profiles enhanced self-esteem,
  • more so if they stayed on their profiles rather than browsing elsewhere,
  • and especially if they edited their profiles during the experiment. (GonzalesHancock 2011)

Well-being

What is social comparison?

assessment of our own standing relative to others

BTW: How do you cope mentally with young people making a ton of money?

Causation (not just correlation)

Method: 143 undergraduates … were randomly assigned to either limit Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat use to 10 minutes, per platform, per day, or to use social media as usual for three weeks. Results: The limited use group showed significant reductions in loneliness and depression over three weeks compared to the control group. Both groups showed significant decreases in anxiety and fear of missing out over baseline, suggesting a benefit of increased self- monitoring. Discussion: … limiting social media use to ~30 minutes per day may lead to significant improvement in well-being. (Hunt et al. 2018)

What is narcissism?

not just self-obsessed: narcissists are preoccupied with success, power, and beauty

they demand and reward attention and admiration but respond to threats to their self-esteem with rage and defiance

“Snapshot dysphoria”

Why are the following funny?

WTF Barbie

Better plastic than basic

“I blame the internet for enabling this unhealthy amount of attention-seeking” – lalakuma9

What to make of it all?

Quantification

Klout

Peeple: Everyone rated

Other rating apps?

  • Lulu allowed women to rate men, with no opt-out.
  • Bumble Buzz expanded from dating to networking.

Are there rating people apps today?

Or has it been professionalized (e.g., SocialBlade.com)?

Black Mirror: Nosedive

How far is too far in rating??

  • shouldn’t rate individuals?
  • ratings should not necessarily be public?
  • shouldn’t rate those who don’t opt-in?

Solutions

Digital minimalism

Mindfulness

Embrace with LifeFaker.com

Anything else??

Conclusion

Wrap up

  • Write down the most complex or confusing topic that you would like more clarity on.

Review

What was the most complex or confusing topic you wrote last class?

Concepts?

  • self-esteem (naive and mature)
  • social comparison
  • narcissism
  • quantification