Too Close to Like?: How Social Media Influencers recast personal space between selfies and Instagram users

ABSTRACT

A selfie, as a form of self-presentation, is known to display an “ideal” self. Selfies publicly posted on Instagram were analyzed to see if the size of faces in selfies affects the perceived privacy boundary between selfie takers and viewers, and eventually leads to social media users’ negative evaluation toward selfies. The data showed that close-up selfies were associated with fewer likes received from other users, while full shot selfies received more likes. Meanwhile, influencers with a high number of followers moderated the perception of privacy boundaries. Theoretical and practical implications of these phenomena are also discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Self-presentation
• personal space
• spatial invasion
• Influencer
• selfie
• brand selfie

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Seoyeon Hong

Dr. Seoyeon Hong (PhD from University of Missouri) is an Associate Professor at Ric Edelman College of Communication & Creative Arts of Rowan University. Her research projects mainly explore the effects of computer mediated communication messages on public perception. She has published numerous peer reviewed journals about corporate reputation, crisis communication, corporate crisis, risk communication, organizational communication, advertising, social media and online marketing communication.

SoYoung Lee

Dr. SoYoung Lee is an Associate Professor teaching graduate and undergraduate public relations courses, and also serves as the Graduate Coordinator of the M.A. in Strategic Communication Program at Rowan University. Her research agenda centers on corporate communication research and consulting, including corporate transparency, relationship/reputation management, and social media public relations. Dr. Lee (PhD from University of Texas at Austin) is an Assistant Professor at Ric Edelman College of Communication & Creative Arts of Rowan University. Her research interests are focused on strategic and marketing communications in a brand crisis, brand-consumer relationships, digital media, and consumer psychology. She specializes in digital media and psychology and how psychological variables influence the effectiveness of marketing and brand strategic communications.