Do good causes leave bad impressions? Exploring the impact of photo frames and newsfeed updates on social impressions of facebook users

Abstract

Showing support for social causes on social network sites using photo frames or newsfeed posts could make users seem benevolent, but paradoxically, these displays could also make users seem inauthentic and self-involved. An online experiment investigated perceptions of different types and amounts of cause support on Facebook. Results show posting multiple expressions can make users seem less socially attractive. Some expressions of support can enhance users’ social attractiveness by making them seem more authentic and less self-involved, but only for female users.

Keywords:

• Facebook
• Online Activism
• Social Impressions

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.