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The present study examined the underlying mechanism of self-presentation on emerging social networking sites (SNSs) where features facilitating simulation of real-life communication are plenty. Although previous scholars have examined self-presentation on social media, very few have investigated the combined influences of extrinsic media features and intrinsic personality trait in orchestrating self-presentation on Instagram, a platform that is highly popular among young adults. Specifically, based on the concepts from media richness theory and survey data collected from 671 young adults, our study showed that perceived media richness of Instagram was positively associated with the young adults’ self-presentation on the platform, which, in turn, enhanced their friendship development. Mediation analyses demonstrated that perceived functionality mediated the association between perceived media richness and self-presentation on Instagram. Additionally, tests of moderated mediation indicated that the indirect effect was stronger for young adults who were low on openness. Results underscore the importance of identifying the underlying processes that moderate the mediation between perceived media richness and self-presentation.

Whether recruiters accurately infer personality from resumes is currently a topic of great interest in the light of technological advancements and new types of resume formats (like video resumes) that are increasingly being used. Based on predictions from the realistic accuracy model and the media richness theory, we investigated whether real recruiters (N=296) are able to infer applicants' Big Five personality characteristics more accurately from video and audio resumes than from less information-rich resume formats (like paper resumes) and whether applicants' perceived attractiveness (physical/vocal) affects accuracy judgments. As expected and with the exception of extraversion, personality was not accurately judged from paper resumes. Interestingly, information-rich resume formats and applicants' perceived attractiveness did not affect accuracy judgments. Despite recruiters' stubborn reliance on their capacity to infer personality from resume information, study findings clearly showed that different types of resumes also the new, more information-rich ones are no valid tools to infer candidates' personality from. New types of resume formats (video resumes) emerge and become increasingly popular.Whether recruiters accurately infer personality from resumes is under-researched.Personality judgments should be more accurate when applicants use a video resume.Results show that richer resume formats do not lead to more accurate judgments.Resumes (incl. video resumes) are no valid tools to infer applicants' personality.

Mobile instant messaging is the communication technology revolution that is changing the way people communicate. The adoption rate is surging and the massive growth is experienced worldwide. Prior studies on instant messaging have been primarily concerned with its task-relevant or functional aspects, while less attention is paid to social interaction aspects. Drawing from media richness theory, present research highlights that social interaction factors can be facilitated by an enriched communication channel to create closer interpersonal social relationships. Specifically, the findings illustrate that the combined effect of text messaging and emoticon use increases information richness, which leads to perceived playfulness in mobile instant messaging. In addition, the perceived playfulness fostered in the instant messaging process plays a driving role in facilitating social connectedness, identity expressiveness between users and advocacy of mobile instant messaging usage. Social interaction can be facilitated by an enriched communication channel.Combined effect of text messaging and emoticon facilitates perceived playfulness.Playfulness drives social connectedness, identity expressiveness and eWOM.

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd During times of public crises, governments must act swiftly to communicate crisis information effectively and efficiently to members of the public; failure to do so will inevitably lead citizens to become fearful, uncertain and anxious in the prevailing conditions. This pioneering study systematically investigates how Chinese central government agencies used social media to promote citizen engagement during the COVID-19 crisis. Using data scraped from ‘Healthy China’, an official Sina Weibo account of the National Health Commission of China, we examine how citizen engagement relates to a series of theoretically relevant factors, including media richness, dialogic loop, content type and emotional valence. Results show that media richness negatively predicts citizen engagement through government social media, but dialogic loop facilitates engagement. Information relating to the latest news about the crisis and the government's handling of the event positively affects citizen engagement through government social media. Importantly, all relationships were contingent upon the emotional valence of each Weibo post. National Social Science Foundation of China

Ever since the beginnings of the internet researchers have questioned its utility in developing and maintaining psychological healthy romantic and sexual relations. Advocates of the social presence theory and media richness theory purport that in leaner media individuals can be quite aggressive towards one another (e.g., in the form of flaming). In contrast, others believe that the lack of traditional cues in CMC can in fact be overcome and instead lead to more personal, intimate relationships. As this paper will demonstrate, when we consider how beneficial it is to form relationships online we also need to consider individuals' characteristics (e.g., personality characteristics and physical attractiveness), the amount of time people spend online, the duration of online relationships, and how these relationships effect individuals' offline activities and relationships. Overall, the view here is that online relationships can be empowering for many people; that is, cyberspace provides a unique environment for people to experience and learn about relationships and sexuality.