Narcissism, extraversion and adolescents' self-presentation on Facebook.

Abstract

Social Networking Sites (e.g. Facebook), which afford self-presentation, are gaining popularity amongst adolescents. This study examined the relationship of narcissism and extraversion on adolescents’ self-presentation in four Facebook profile features (profile picture, status updates, social network size, photo count), as reported by 360 adolescents with a mean age of 14.14 (SD = 1.00). After accounting for extraversion, narcissism predicted features presenting self-generated content (profile picture rating, status update frequency), but not features presenting system-generated content (social network size, photo count). Being less socially-exposed, narcissistic adolescents may seek more direct self-presentation through self-generated content. Closely related to online self-presentation are concerns about cyberbullying and other risks. Further research is required to examine if narcissistic adolescents are more at-risk than nonnarcissistic adolescents.