Affirming the Self Online: Motives and Benefits of Facebook Use.

Social network sites, such as Facebook, allow users to create novel self-representations that capture both social connectivity and meaningful personal attributes (e.g., social roles, activities, hobbies). What are the psychological effects of being exposed to this flattering version of oneself? Using self-affirmation theory, this research predicts that exposure to one's own Facebook profile constitutes an everyday source of self-affirmation, in the sense that it reinforces a sense of self-worth and emotional well-being. Study 1 shows that a brief exposure to one's own Facebook profile produced the same psychological benefits as completing a classic self-affirmation manipulation, and also resulted in a surge of positive affect. Study 2 shows that Facebook users actively (albeit unconsciously) take advantage of these self-affirmational benefits by gravitating towards Facebook in times of psychological distress. Contributions to self-affirmation theory and to the burgeoning literature on the uses and effects of social network sites are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]