Computers in Human Behavior 31 (2014) 367372

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Computers in Human Behavior

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/comphumbeh

Expressing the True Self on Facebook

Gwendolyn Seidman
Psychology Department, Albright College, 13th and Bern Streets, Reading, PA 19612, United States

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Available online 1 December 2013
Keywords:
True self
Facebook
Social networking websites
Self-presentation

a b s t r a c t
The present research examined correlates of true self expression to ofine friends on Facebook. The
true self (McKenna et al., 2002) consists of qualities an individual currently possesses but does not normally express to others. In Study 1, 184 undergraduates completed an online survey assessing true self
expression to their friends online and reported the frequency of various Facebook activities. True self
expression was positively correlated with using Facebook for communicating with others, general selfdisclosure, emotional disclosure, attention-seeking, and acceptance-seeking, but was unrelated to seeking connection with and expressing caring for others. In Study 2, 41 undergraduates completed the true
self measure and their Facebook proles were saved and coded. True self expression was positively correlated with frequency of posting on others walls, but not posting on ones own wall or receiving posts
from others. Finally, true self expression was positively associated with the level of personal disclosure of
participants wall posts. These results suggest that those who feel able to express their true self online
are more active on Facebook, have more self-oriented motivations for posting, and post more personally
revealing and emotional content.
2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Since the rst appearance of e-mail, listservs, and other forms of
online communication, the Internet has changed the way we communicate with each other (see Bargh & McKenna, 2004 for a review). In recent years, Internet users have joined social
networking websites (SNS) which allow them to connect with others and post information and daily updates about themselves to a
large network of fellow users of their choice. SNS are so popular
that in 2010, 61% of American adults used them (Zickuhr, 2010).
This represents a major shift in Internet use. As recently as 2000,
half of American adults did not even have an Internet connection
(Rainie et al., 2000). Worldwide, Facebook is the most popular social networking site (Jain, 2010) with over one billion active users,
699 million of whom log onto the site daily (Facebook, 2013). Facebook has become so popular that in some weeks it has been the
number one source of all Internet trafc in the United States
(Dougherty, 2010). In recent years, social scientists have taken
great interest in understanding Facebook, examining the demographic characteristics of Facebook users, motivations for Facebook
use, self-presentation, and social interactions on Facebook (see
Wilson, Gosling, & Graham, 2012 for a review). The current
research will address the expression of the true self (Bargh,

Tel.: +1 610 929 6742.

E-mail address: gseidman@alb.edu

0747-5632/$ - see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.10.052

McKenna, & Fitzsimons, 2002; McKenna, Green, & Gleason, 2002)

on Facebook.
2. Background
2.1. The True Self
Psychologists have long accepted the notion that the self is multi-faceted. Early scholars focused on the distinction between ones
public persona and private self (Jung, 1953). Higgins (1987) divided the self into the actual self (the way we currently see ourselves) and two self-guides, the ideal and ought self, which serve
as standards to which the actual self is compared. Markus and
Nurius (1986) posited that each of us has multiple possible selves
that we hope to become or fear becoming.
The true self, as dened by Bargh et al. (2002), McKenna
et al. (2002), consists of qualities that an individual currently
possesses but does not normally express to others in everyday
life. According to McKenna this notion is similar to the idea of
the true self described by Rogers (1951). Rogers posited that
the self may contain identity-important qualities that are not
validated by ones signicant others. These are not necessarily
undesirable traits, but rather these are traits that one would like
to be acknowledged, but that one is unable to express or to have
validated by others. The true self differs from other selves described in the psychological literature, such as Higgins (1987)
self-guides or Markus and Nurius (1986) possible selves because

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G. Seidman / Computers in Human Behavior 31 (2014) 367372

unlike these other constructs, the true self contains qualities that
the individual currently possesses.
2.2. Expressing the True Self on the Internet
Past research has revealed that some individuals feel better able
to express their true self online (McKenna et al., 2002). McKenna
et al. (2002) found that individuals who expressed the true self online were more likely to form close relationships with others that
they met via the Internet, and that this was especially true for
those high in social anxiety. Experimental evidence suggests that
these true self qualities are actually conveyed to online interaction
partners. In a lab study, Bargh et al. (2002, Experiment 3), found
that online interaction partners evaluated one another as possessing more true self traits than face-to-face partners. Thus it appears
that these participants were more able to express true self qualities
in online than in face-to-face interactions. This expression of the
true self also appears to operate at the unconscious level, with true
self qualities being more cognitively accessible following online
interactions (Bargh et al., 2002, Experiment1). In research specically addressing Facebook use, Tosun (2012) found that those with
a tendency to express the true self online are likely to use Facebook
as a way to establish new relationships, just as such individuals
used other Internet interaction venues ten years earlier. However,
those who express the true self online are likely to use the Internet
as a social substitute for ofine interactions, substituting online
only relationships with strangers for ofine relationships (Tosun
& Lajunen, 2009), suggesting an unhealthy consequence of such
self expression.
Most past research on true self expression online has focused on
interactions with strangers. However, in the past several years,
Internet-based communications have become primarily a way to
connect with existing ofine friends and family members. In order
to examine online true self expression to ofine friends, McKenna,
Buffardi, and Seidman (2005) conducted a survey assessing the extent to which people expressed hidden qualities to their ofine
friends online via email and instant messaging. The tendency to express the true self to existing real life friends when interacting
with those friends via the Internet predicted important outcomes
for those relationships, including an ease in discussing troublesome topics or conicts online, and a sense that the Internet had
strengthened their relationships. However, this research did not
deal with social networking sites, in which information is made
public to a large number of friends and acquaintances, but rather
with private one-on-one online communications. Some recent research suggests that true self aspects may be expressed on Facebook, revealing that neuroticism is positively correlated with self
reports of expressing hidden self-aspects through Facebook posts
(Seidman, 2013). The current research will extend this work by
examining how the true self is expressed to existing ofine friends
on Facebook, using both self report and behavioral data.
2.3. True self expression on Facebook
According to Nadkarni and Hofmann (2012), Facebook use is
motivated by two primary needs: belonging and self-presentation.
The need to belong is the fundamental motive to connect with and
be accepted by others (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). Self-presentation is the attempt to inuence how one is perceived by others
with the goal of making a particular impression (Schlenker,
2003). Expression of the true self can be a way to fulll both of
these needs.
Self-verication is an important self-presentational goal. Selfverication is the desire to be seen by others as we see ourselves;
that is, the desire to present our real and authentic selves to others
(Swann, 1983, 1987). Because true self traits are a part of the

existing self, and not idealized or hoped for traits, their expression
online is an attempt to express the self as it truly is, and is thus an
attempt at self-verication. People have a strong motivation to
have identity-important self-aspects acknowledged by others, in
order to ensure that they are integrated into the self-concept
(Baumeister, 1998; Gollwitzer, 1986). Individuals who have
self-aspects that can only be expressed online should have a
greater tendency to express themselves on Facebook because it
may be the only way to have certain self-aspects veried.
Hypothesis 1. True self expression online will be positively
associated with the tendency to use Facebook as a tool to
communicate with others, to disclose information, and to express
emotions.
In addition, because those who express the true self online are
expressing unique self-aspects, they may be especially likely to
seek attention via their Facebook posts, since it is their only chance
to get attention for these unique self expressions. If these are identity-important self-aspects, then being able to express them and
have them validated by others can ultimately increase self-acceptance (McKenna & Bargh, 1998). This provides a strong motivation
not only to express these self-aspects, but to deliberately try to get
others to notice them.
Hypothesis 2. True self expression online will be positively
associated with the use of Facebook as a way to seek attention
from others.
Belonging needs can be met by expressing caring for others and
by being accepted by others. People seek closeness to others for
both altruistic and egoistic reasons (Park, Troisi, & Maner, 2010).
Altruistic concerns involve a genuine concern for others needs,
whereas egoistic concerns involve whether or not ones own needs
will be met by the relationship. Facebook use can satisfy both of
these concerns. One can express caring and support for friends
via Facebook and one can also have ones own needs for acceptance
and validation fullled by others on Facebook. True self expression
is one way to satisfy egoistic relational motives. Validation of ones
self-concept is an important goal of close relationships (Derlega &
Chaikin, 1977). It is important that these hidden self-aspects be
validated by others, and the Internet may allow this to occur
(Bargh et al., 2002; McKenna & Bargh, 1998). Thus, true self expression can accomplish belonging needs, namely acceptance by others. However, true self expression does not facilitate altruistic
expressions of caring or concern for others, as it reects
self-oriented motives.
Hypothesis 3. True self expression online will be positively
associated with using Facebook as a way to gain acceptance from
others (egoistic belonging motive), but not as a way to show caring
for others (altruistic belonging motive).
As discussed previously, it is likely that those who express the
true self online are seeking validation from others of these hidden
self aspects and may be more expressive on Facebook. This is similar to the pattern of behaviors exhibited by those with low self esteem. Research shows that those with low self esteem are more
comfortable expressing negative emotions on Facebook, but these
self disclosures make negative impressions on others and thus
may not lead to positive outcomes for their relationships (Forest
& Wood, 2012). Thus, these individuals may fail to receive the
validation they are seeking. A similar fate may befall those who
express the true self online by being more personally disclosing.
In most cases, self disclosure by one party leads to greater liking
by the second party (see Collins & Miller, 1994 for review) and
leads the other party to disclose in turn (Laurenceau, Barrett, &
Pietromonaco, 1998; Sprecher, Treger, Wondra, Hilaire, & Wallpe,

G. Seidman / Computers in Human Behavior 31 (2014) 367372

2013). However, self-disclosure can have negative effects on liking

if it is seen as inappropriate in a given situation (Taylor, 1979) with
self-disclosures to strangers typically being viewed negatively
(Archer & Berg, 1978; Rubin, 1975). Because Facebook social
networks are large, most of those receiving these disclosures do
not have close relationships with the discloser and some may
barely be acquainted with the user (West, Lewis, & Currie, 2009).
Those who express the true self online should be likely to use
Facebook heavily, as hypothesized earlier, but they may not be
the recipients of the attention they seek.
Hypothesis 4. True self expression online will not be associated
with receipt of wall posts from others.
The current research will examine how true self expression on
Facebook is related to self-presentational and belongingness oriented behaviors and motivations. Study 1 will test Hypotheses 1
through 3, by examining participants self-reported Facebook use
habits and reasons for using Facebook. Study 2 will use actual Facebook activity to test Hypotheses 1 and 4 by examining participants
user proles.
3. Study 1
3.1. Method
3.1.1. Participants
One-hundred and eighty-four undergraduate students at a
small liberal arts college in the Northeastern United States (51
males, 133 females) between the ages of 18 and 28 (M = 19.51,
SD = 1.55) participated. Originally, 207 students began the survey,
but only 184 completed all of the measures discussed here. Participants reported spending between zero and 50 h per week on Facebook (M = 8.68, SD = 8.34).
Participants were recruited via email. All students who were
enrolled in psychology courses received an email soliciting the participation of students who currently possessed a Facebook account.
All participants received extra credit in psychology courses as an
incentive for participation. This data was previously analyzed by
Seidman (2013) in an examination of the association between
Facebook use and the Big 5 Personality traits.
3.1.2. Materials and procedure
Participants followed an emailed link to an online survey. The
rst page of the survey was an informed consent. Participants then
progressed through a series of questions assessing demographic
characteristics, Facebook use habits and motivations (these items
were used to create the scales described below, which are also described in Seidman (2013)), a measure of the true self, and additional measures not relevant to the present analysis.
3.1.2.1. The true self. In order to assess the extent to which participants expressed their true self to friends and acquaintances on
the Internet, participants completed a modied version of McKenna et al. (2002) true self measure rst used by McKenna et al.
(2005). This measure contains four items. Respondents answered
yes or no, to the question Do you think youve given one or
more of your friends a better idea of who the real you is because
of things youve told them online?. Four additional items asked
participants to rate the extent to which each statement characterized them on a 7-point Likert scale (1 = not at all, 7 = a great
deal). These items were To what extent do you feel youve expressed different parts or facets of yourself in your online interactions with a friend (or friends) that youd not expressed with them
before in person?; How surprised do you think your friends have
been by things youve said or done online please think of the

369

most extreme examples when answering this question; How

much have you felt free to share things with a friend (or friends)
online that you might have hesitated to share with them in person; and More generally, to what extent do you think your
friends have been surprised to learn things about you through your
online interactions with them? Responses to these ve items were
standardized and then averaged to create the true self measure
(a = .57)1.
3.1.2.2. Facebook use behaviors. In order to assess participants patterns of Facebook use, three scales were created: Communication
(communicating with others on Facebook), general self disclosure,
and emotional disclosure. For all of these items, participants rated
how often they engaged in the behavior, using a 7-point Likert
scale (1 = never, 7 = all the time). The communication scale
(a = .847, M = 4.38, SD = 1.45) consisted of two items: Writing on
others walls and commenting on others posts. The general self disclosure scale (a = .870, M = 3.39, SD = 1.28) consisted of six items:
Changing ones status, updating prole information, posting statuses/messages about special events, posting about daily events,
posting photographs of special events, and posting photographs
of daily events. Finally, the emotional disclosure scale (a = .909,
M = 2.63, SD = 1.66) consisted of two items: posting about drama
in my life and venting frustrations. These three scales were all
used to test Hypothesis 1.
3.1.2.3. Facebook use motivations. In order to assess participants
motivations for Facebook use, three scales were created: Acceptance-seeking (using Facebook in order to be accepted by others),
connection/caring (using Facebook in order to main connections
with others or to express caring and concern for others), and attention-seeking (using Facebook as a way to get attention from others). Once again, participants used a 7-point Likert scale to
indicate how often their Facebook posts were motivated by each
factor. The acceptance-seeking scale (a = .777, M = 3.69, SD = 1.68)
consisted of two items: Posting to feel included and posting to
get others to feel closer to oneself. This scale represents egoistic
belonging motives. The connection/caring scale (a = .729, M = 4.27,
SD = 1.50) contained three items: Posting to feel closer to others,
to show caring for others, and to support others. This scale represents altruistic belonging motives. Finally, the attention-seeking
scale (a = .749, M = 2.91, SD = 1.61) consisted of two items: Showing off and getting attention. These three scales were used to test
Hypotheses 2 and 3.
3.2. Results and discussion
In order to examine the relationship between true self expression to friends online and specic Facebook behaviors and motivations, a series of multiple regression analyses were conducted with
each behavior and motivation scale described in Section 3.1.2as the
dependent variable for each separate regression model. Gender
and the number of hours the participant reported spending on
Facebook weekly were entered into step 1 of each regression model as control variables. Scores on the true self measure were entered in step 2 for all models. Correlations between the criterion
variables are displayed in Table 1. Regression coefcients for the
true self measure and change in R2 (from step 1 to step 2) for each
of the six regression models are displayed in Table 2. Thus, each
row of Table 2 represents the results from a separate regression
model.
1
Results were similar using a more reliable (a = .83) shortened version of the scale
that omitted the rst item.

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G. Seidman / Computers in Human Behavior 31 (2014) 367372

Table 1
Correlations between dependent variables for Study 1.
General self-disclosure
Communication
General self-disclosure
Emotional disclosure
Acceptance-seeking
Connection/caring



.709

Emotional disclosure





Acceptance-seeking


.423
.567

.280
.400
.268

Connection/caring


.402
.445
.319
.743

Attention-seeking
.209
.393
.350
.611
.437

p < .01.
p < .001.

Table 2
Study 1 regression results for models predicting Facebook behaviors and motivations
from True Self expression.
Criterion variables

DR 2

B (SE)


Behaviors

Communication
General self-disclosure
Emotional disclosure

0.509 (0.158)
0.506 (0.147)
0.522 (0.198)

.043
.054
.034

Motivations

Acceptance-seeking
Connection/caring
Attention-seeking

0.795 (0.200)
0.255 (0.179)
0.703 (0.194)

.078
.010
.066

DR2 represents DR2 from step 1 (gender and weekly time spent on Facebook) to step
2 (true self scores).

p < .01.

p < .001.

Scores on the true self measure were positively associated with

greater use of Facebook in all three categories of behavior, consistent with Hypothesis 1. As predicted by Hypothesis 2, true self
expression was associated with use of Facebook as a way to seek
attention from others. Finally, in accordance with Hypothesis 3,
true self expression was associated with use of Facebook as a
way to gain acceptance from others (an egoistic belonging motive),
but not to connect with or show caring for others (an altruistic
belonging motive).
These results show that true self expression online is associated
with more frequent use of Facebook to communicate with others,
present information about oneself, and express emotions. In addition, these frequent posts are often used as a way to get attention
from and be accepted by others. Thus, those who express the true
self online may be doing so for self-oriented motives; where as
those who express the true self online are no more likely than
those who do not to use Facebook for other-oriented motives.
This study examined the association between true self expression
and Facebook behaviors and motivations as reported by Facebook
users. Although motivations can only be assessed via self-report,
behaviors can be observed objectively by examining Facebook proles. Thus Hypotheses 1 and 4 can be tested with behavioral data.
4. Study 2
Study 2 is an attempt to again test Hypothesis 1, by replicating
the ndings of Study 1 using behavioral data gleaned from users
Facebook proles. Frequency of Facebook activity and level of emotional expression will both be assessed in order to test this hypothesis. In addition, in order to test Hypothesis 4, reactions by users
friends will be gauged by examining the frequency with which others post on the users walls.
4.1. Method
4.1.1. Participants
Forty-one undergraduate students at a small liberal arts college
in the Northeastern United States (9 males and 32 females)

between the ages of 18 and 25 (M = 19.88, SD = 1.33) responded

to yers posted in the psychology department soliciting the participation of individuals who currently possessed a Facebook page.
One participants data was removed because he was an extreme
outlier; the number of posts he made per day was more than ve
standard deviations above the average for this sample. All participants received extra credit in psychology courses as an incentive
for participation. Participants reported spending between two
and 70 h per week on Facebook (M = 9.50, SD = 12.30).
4.1.2. Materials and procedure
Participants entered the laboratory where they were greeted by
a female experimenter. After explaining the procedure and obtaining informed consent, the experimenter gave participants a questionnaire packet. This packet contained demographic questions,
the true self measure used in Study 1 (a = .85), and other measures not relevant to the current analysis.
After completing the questionnaire, participants were seated in
front of a computer and asked to login to their Facebook account.
They were rst asked to click on their main prole page and the researcher saved this page. Participants were then instructed to click
on the Wall tab, and click expand all comments so that all comments were shown. The experimenter then clicked view older
posts twice and saved the entire page. Participants were assured
that although their data would not be anonymous due to the identifying information contained in the saved proles, it would be
condential, and they were asked to give their nal consent to allow the researchers to save and code their Facebook prole. Participants were then debriefed.
4.1.3. Facebook prole coding
Two independent raters examined each saved prole page and
wall. The participants number of friends (M = 635.79,
SD = 436.04) was recorded from the main prole (Info) page. There
were no disagreements between the raters on this measure. Three
different types of wall posts were counted from the saved wall
pages: participants posts on his/her own wall, posts by others,
and posts on others walls. For each of these counts, the number
of posts per day was computed. Any inter-rater disagreements on
these counts were resolved upon re-counting. On average, each
day, participants received 1.06 (SD = 1.53) wall posts from others,
made 0.93 (SD = 1.11) posts on their own wall and made 1.09
(SD = 0.81) posts on others walls. Finally, the raters used a 5-point
Likert scale to assess the extent to which the overall content of the
participants wall posts was personally revealing. An interclass correlation was computed to assess inter-rater reliability for the initial
set of ratings. The ICC was .711, indicating substantial agreement.
For proles in which the inter-rater discrepancy was 1 point, the
two raters scores were averaged. Discrepancies greater than 1
point were resolved through discussion. The average self disclosure
rating was 2.66 (SD = 1.02).
In order to test Hypothesis 1, several variables were examined.
Frequency of communication with others was assessed with the
average number of posts per day the participant made on others

G. Seidman / Computers in Human Behavior 31 (2014) 367372

Table 3
Correlations between dependent variables for Study 2.
Posts per
day on own
wall
Number of
Facebook
friends
Posts per day
on own
wall
Posts per day
on others
walls
Posts per day
by others

.041

Posts per day

on others
walls

Posts per
day by
others

Wall
personal
disclosure

.188

.104

.003

.565

.098

.297

.076

.328

371

posting activity. Also consistent with Hypothesis 1, which predicted greater emotional disclosure by those who express the true
self online, those who expressed the true self were signicantly
more likely to personally disclose in their wall posts, as assessed
by the independent coders. As predicted by Hypothesis 4, true self
expression was unrelated to the frequency of others posts on the
participants wall. Thus, those high on true self expression reached
out to others more by posting on friends walls, but did not receive
the corresponding boost in activity by friends on their own wall.
This lack of posts by friends could not by explained by their lacking
sufcient numbers of friends, since there was no relation between
number of friends and true self expression.

.133

5. Conclusions

p < .10.
p < .05.

p < .001.


walls. Frequency of self-expression was assessed by examining the

average number of posts per day on the participants own wall.
Overall emotional disclosure was assessed by the coders ratings
of the participants personal disclosure.
To test Hypothesis 4, the average number of posts per day by
others on the participants wall was used. However, frequency of
posts by others could be an indicator not only of how responsive
the participants friends are, but also a simple indicator that the
participant had more friends, and thus more people who could
potentially post on the wall. For this reason, number of friends
was also examined, to rule out this possible explanation.
4.2. Results and discussion
In order to examine the relationship between true self expression to friends online and the frequency of Facebook behaviors and
emotional expression, a series of multiple regression analyses were
conducted with each prole element described in Section 4.1.3 as
the dependent variable for each model. Gender and the number
of hours the participant reported spending on Facebook weekly
were entered into step 1 of each regression model as control variables, and scores on the true self measure were entered in step 2.
Correlations between the criterion variables are displayed in
Table 3. Regression coefcients for the true self measure and
change in R2 (from step 1 to step 2) for the ve regression models
are displayed in Table 4. Thus, each row of Table 4 represents the
results from a separate regression model.
Consistent with Hypothesis 1, true self scores were positively
associated with frequency of posting on others walls. This indicates that those who express the true self online are more likely
to use Facebook as a method to communicate with others. Contrary
to Hypothesis 1, and to the self-report data from Study 1, true self
scores were unrelated to frequency of posting on ones own wall,
but the relationship was in the expected direction and scores on
the true self measure did account for 6.3% of the variance in
Table 4
Study 2 regression results for models predicting Facebook behavior from True Self
expression.
Criterion variables
Number of Facebook friends
Posts per day on own wall
Posts per day on others walls
Posts per day by others
Wall personal disclosure

B (SE) step 1

B (SE) step 2

DR2

33.036 (65.354)
0.343 (0.224)
0.453 (0.167)
0.056 (0.367)
0.481 (0.222)

.006
.063
.159
.001
.116

DR2 represents DR2 from step 1 (gender and weekly time spent on Facebook) to step
2 (true self scores).

p < .05.

These results suggest that those who feel more able to express
their true self online post on Facebook more frequently and post
more personally revealing and emotional content, even controlling
for how much time they spend on the site. In addition, Study 1 suggests that those who express the true self online tend to post for
more self-oriented reasons, such as getting attention and feeling
included, rather than other-oriented motivations, like expressing
caring for others. Study 2 replicated the behavioral ndings of
Study 1, using data from actual user proles. Study 2 conrmed
that those who express the true self online are more likely to post
on others walls and are more likely to disclose intimate information on Facebook. However, those who scored highly on the measure of the true self were not more likely to post on their own
wall, contrary to the results of Study 1. This may be due to the
smaller sample size, as the effect was in the expect direction and
true self expression accounted for a substantial portion of the variance in posting behaviors. Additionally, it is possible that when
self-reporting, participants may not be accurate in differentiating
between the frequency of posts to their own vs. others walls.
These ndings also suggest that those who express their true
self online may not be getting the social validation they seek. Despite having the same number of friends as those who do not express their true self online and posting on friends walls more
frequently, Study 2 showed that those who express the true self
do not receive more wall posts from others in response to their
greater expressiveness. These individuals appear to reach out to
others with higher frequency and greater intensity (revealing more
private information), but this is not met by a higher frequency of
responses. This may be a result of the fact that these individuals
use Facebook more for self-oriented motives, rather than otheroriented motives, as demonstrated in Study 1. Their self-oriented
motives may be apparent to their Facebook friends, causing them
to not respond in kind. Alternatively, there could be a disconnect
between the levels of self-disclosure with which these users and
their friends are comfortable. Future researchers should investigate
the long term consequences of true self expression on Facebook
and others reactions to it. The current ndings suggest that the
tendency to express the true self online to existing friends is
associated with specic Facebook behaviors and motivations, but
the consequences of these behaviors are not currently well
understood.
These ndings add to the larger literature on true self
expression online. Most prior research on true self expression has
focused on Internet-initiated relationships (Bargh et al., 2002;
McKenna et al., 2002; Tosun, 2012; Tosun & Lajunen, 2009), which
only represent a small portion of online social interactions. The
only study to focus on true self expression to ofine friends as a
trait-like individual difference examined private email and instant
message communications (McKenna et al., 2005), which, with the
advent of social networking sites, have become only a small part

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G. Seidman / Computers in Human Behavior 31 (2014) 367372

of online social interactions. Facebook offers new, and less private,

ways to connect with a network of friends and acquaintances. In
one sense, it represents communication with close others, but in
another sense it approximates the communication with strangers
that characterized early Internet social communication, as many
Facebook friends are not well-known to the user. Evidence does
in fact suggest that self-presentation and identity construction on
social networking sites does differ from other online environments
(Zhao, Grasmuck, & Martin, 2008). Social networking sites may be
an especially fertile ground for the expression of the true self,
opening up the possibility to seek validation of hidden self aspects
from a broad range of social network members.
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank Mary Kate McCarthy and Erin
Marie Poulson for their contributions to data collection and coding
and Dr. Benjamn Liberman for comments on an earlier version of
this manuscript.
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