Social media, personal branding, and the hypoesthesia of communication corruption

Abstract

The increasing use and misuse of social media in personal branding have prompted the recent study to examine it from the perspective of communication corruption, namely the act of reducing the audience’s right to receive messages completely and correctly according to facts. This study uses a phenomenological approach by interviewing in-depth key informants from academics who have personal branding experience through social media. We found some communication corruption in the dimensions of the message (such as in visual touch-ups and exaggerating facts), media (abusing media utilities and manipulating media features), context (constructing fake situations and settings to create desired impressions), and behavior (deliberately manipulating and deceiving). The informants admitted to doing this because it is normal and common for netizens in the social media world. We call this phenomenon hypoesthesia of communication corruption, namely the banality of the immorality in interpreting corrupt actions and events in communication. This study is the first in the issue of communication corruption in personal branding through social media and the first to present the concept of hypoesthesia of communication corruption based on empirical insights.

Keywords:

• digital personal branding
• appearance shows
• banality of immorality
• corruption of communication
• credibility acquisition
• fake setting
• netizen

1. Introduction

The social media world is a magnet that has hypnotized various circles of society in recent decades. It was triggered by the outgrowth of digital technology, which made various devices more compact, faster, lighter, and more versatile. Some of the advantages of digital technology, including social connectivity, communication speeds, versatile working, learning opportunities, automation, information storage editing, accurate duplication, GPS and mapping, transportation, low cost, entertainment, news, banking and finance, and smaller sized devices (Goodman, 2020). This advantage reinforces the notion that digital power is a mainstay for various purposes, and the most prominent is its benefits related to communication (Przybylski & Weinstein, 2012). The social media and digital sphere/space allow for increased open communication by eliminating real-world boundaries, such as appearance, physical abilities, and socioeconomic status, which have been an obstacle to identity formation for some people (Chen, 2013).

One of the real impacts of digitalization and open communication is digital personal branding. Digital branding allows a brand to be communicated widely through the digital realm, thus creating a consumer-based brand equity. In the digital era, “we live in an increasingly connected, global and mobile world which has brought with it new challenges and opportunities for […] branding” (Swaminathan, 2016, p. 37). It can create audience engagement in the digital world and become an increasingly attractive endeavor for many practitioners. Digital branding is considered more effective and efficient because many channels are available; the message can go viral, customer interaction sets a brand apart from the rest, and better connections (Lambert, 2018).

Meanwhile, personal branding through (and in) the digital realm is an important issue because digital technology makes employers more efficient in finding talents according to their requirements through search engines or digital platforms. Also, people want to know whether you are tech literate or not because being at the forefront of technology in today’s digital age is something “sexy.” They want to make sure you are “Digital Confident” (Riley, 2017, para. 1). Professionals who strategically create digital personal brands exert control over their digital personas, thus making the messages associated with their brands more impactful (Dutta, 2010).

Not only professionals but Individual amateurs (Chen, 2013) also do personal branding through digital platforms, especially social media, including students. According to Johnson (2017), students need to do personal branding to communicate their values and excellence, especially for those who do not have adequate work experience. Personal branding for students is also important for those worried about their future careers after graduating from college (Dewanto, 2016).

However, through social media, student personal branding often raises other communication corruption (Nasution, 2020). The corruption of communication is an event or action in the communication process that reduces the audience’s right to receive messages completely and correctly according to both normative and contemplative facts (Wijaya, 2013). Communication corruption has several dimensions, including dimensions of message, media, context, and behavior. Message corruption relates to communication content, both verbal and nonverbal. Media corruption relates to the abuse of media, platform, and its features, the abuse of ownership, management, and media work/ profession. Context corruption is related to the engineering of settings, situations, and events that create a special impression in the audience’s eyes. The dimensions of communication corruption behavior include deliberate, cognizance, moral attitudes, ethics, and illegal acts (Wijaya, 2013). Communication corruption generally occurs because it is driven by various communication needs such as physical needs, identity needs, and practical goals (Adler & Proctor, 2014), but most notably for persuasion and imaging purposes (Wijaya, 2013).

Communication corruption in the context of branding has been studied by Wijaya and Faisal (2016) regarding political branding in the 2014 Indonesian presidential election campaign and Nasution (2020) regarding student personal branding on social media. Other relevant studies include the unethical and illogical online news behaviors in shaping the inappropriate media (Wijaya, 2019) and student communication corruption in writing thesis (Fauziah, 2020). In their research on online personal branding, Labrecque et al. (2011) saw that students were mostly unaware of the negative potential outcomes resulting from their social media actions. Therefore, students’ personal branding through social media and digital platforms can generate “negative outcomes,” including communication corruption.

In contrast to previous studies, this article focuses on presenting the results of a series of in-depth interviews that answer several key questions:

1. How are the personal branding practices of students on social media platforms, especially Instagram (IG)?

2. How are the practices of communication corruption in personal branding being carried out through the IG digital platform?

2. Materials and methods

Using a qualitative phenomenological approach (Gill, 2020), we interviewed 10 students who had personal branding experiences through social media, especially IG. Most students are in their final year of study, attaching importance to personal branding for career development and expanding social networks. Some use personal branding for existing, also to build an image as an influencer. The majority of informants are men, aged 20–23 years, and have completed an internship program, so they have professional experience as workers (Table 1).

Table 1. Informants’ profile

Name code	Age & Gender	IG since	IG status	Reasons to brand personal
Inf-1	23, male	2013	Active & progressive*	Career, social network
Inf-2	20, male	2015	Active & progressive*	Job, identity, network, exist
Inf-3	20, female	2017	Active & progressive*	Job, influencer, network, exist
Inf-4	22, male	2014	Active & progressive*	Freelance, network
Inf-5	23, female	2014	Active & progressive*	Career, exist, image, network
Inf-6	22, female	2012	Active, but not progressive*	Career, network, exist
Inf-7	20, male	2013	Active, but not progressive*	Freelance, job, image, network
Inf-8	21, female	2016	Active & progressive*	Identity, exist, freelance, network
Inf-9	22, male	2015	Active, but not progressive*	Identity, job, image, network
Inf-10	23, male	2010	Active & progressive*	Freelance, identity, network, exist

*Progressively improve views, upload and update posts regularly, and engage with audiences

Other methods of collecting data in this study are online observation, digital documentation, and document search. Online observation (Dyke et al., 2008) by monitoring and observing each informant’s IG account. Digital documentation (Campana & Remondino, 2007) by scanning or capturing several posts and features indicating communication corruption as evidence for study (Allen-Robertson, 2018; Bentkowska-Kafel & MacDonald, 2018). Document search by collecting media and scientific archives and artifacts, and personal documents from informants through other sources such as other social media platforms, online media, and other digital sources (Allen-Robertson, 2018; Bowen, 2009; Kugley et al., 2017). Validation in phenomenological descriptive research according to Sousa (2014) includes intentionality, psychological phenomenological reduction, eidetic psychological analysis, syntheses of identification, phenomenon versus individual, and invariant structures. In this study, validity on intentionality was carried out by triangulating information from one informant to another, information obtained from the interview and other methods, and triangulating data with previous studies.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Social media for personal branding

Various reasons emerged among students why they use digital platforms and social media for personal branding (Figure 1). For Inf-1, the digital realm offers unlimited reach so that the message exposure can be wider with a larger audience. With different languages, this reason is also shared by Inf-3, Inf-5, Inf-8, Inf-10, and Inf-4.

Figure 1. Why students use the digital platform for personal branding.

Just push a button; we can slide into a world without limits. No boundaries, no barriers. What is equally important is that it is cheap, sometimes even free. Imagine if we use conventional media. For getting the same reach, we might spend hundreds of billions! (Inf-10).

Furthermore, Inf-4 said that social media and cyberspace not only have a wide reach but also real-time. Users can update information at any time, both in the context of consumption and production. However, because of its advantages in speed, Inf-7 admits its drawback is that the content produced or shared is less accurate and credible. Inf-10 advises being more selective.

Another opinion was conveyed by Inf-9, which stated that social media’s advantages for personal branding are, “it allows for interaction and dialogue between users and audiences. This has resulted in good engagement between the two parties” (Inf-9). The keyword “engagement” was also mentioned by Inf-2 when explaining why social media the main choice in personal branding is. “The fun thing is that everyone can be active, they can respond to each other” (Inf-2).

Meanwhile, all informants agreed that social media and digital platforms’ main strength for personal branding is that they are socially networkable. According to Schroeder (2016), because it is networkable, social media is the most widely used for socializing, reconnecting with old friends (Thomas et al., 2020), and the easiest place to make new friends (Tufekci, 2010).

With regards to personal branding through social media and digital platforms, each informant has a different way, but all of them focus on four main strategies (Figure 2), namely,

Figure 2. How students use the digital platforms for personal branding.

1. Port-folioing strategy, by actively posting works,

2. talent promotion tends to show activities related to skills and capabilities, such as cooking, graphic design, sports coaching, and others,

3. the appearance shows, by displaying attractive styles related to physical appearance, whether face, body shape, fashion, haircuts, and other interesting poses,

4. Credibility acquisition, by posting situations and activities that strengthen credibility, such as posing with experts or celebrities, posing in certain places, at certain events, and other activities that create special impressions in the audience’s eyes.

3.2. Digital personal branding and the corruption of communication

The rise of personal branding in social media often creates communication corruption. This is because the digital world provides platforms that allow someone to manipulate (Susser et al., 2019) easily. Cyber culture also makes users free to express themselves and also creates false identities (Azevedo et al., 2015). Various forms of communication corruption by students in personal branding through social media occur in almost all dimensions: messages, media, context, and behavior (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Corruption patterns of communication in personal branding through social media.

Message corruption includes polishing images to make them look sleeker, changing backgrounds, colors, and fashion accessories. Inf-5 admits this as a way to improve her image in the public eye, “Usually, if I like the pose, but the background is not good, or the bag I use doesn’t fit, change it. With today’s technology, it’s easy.” This was also confessed by Inf-7 when polishing his works to be posted on the IG account. Inf-7 argues that it is an attempt to build a positive impression in the eyes of potential clients. “The first impression is so tempting, then it’s up to you,” said Inf-7, quoting the slogan of a men’s deodorant brand.

Other forms include exaggerating facts, making up stories, and even lying. From the triangulation results, Inf-7 provides information about different profiles and portfolios during interviews with what is displayed on the IG account. When this was confirmed, Inf-7 admitted that it was normal to attract potential clients. According to him, what is important is not to lie about skills and abilities so that when the services are used, clients find the same standards. Inf-4 also has a similar experience when he first entered the professional world. “Usually, this ‘strategy’ is effective for beginners who don’t have a lot of portfolios to steal the attention of potential clients or employers.” This research’s results are consistent with Nasution’s (2020) finding that students tend to blow up their CVs for professional work, so that prospective employers are more tempted.

Furthermore, communication corruption in the media dimension includes the abuse of media power and manipulating its available features. Inf-1 believes that each social media platform has its own advantages. These advantages should be considered before maximizing its function. IG, for example, is strong in the image, so visual touch-ups are relevant. Another experience revealed by Inf-6. Because she knows that the number of followers is important in shaping her image, she has used a broker who can generate the number of followers instantly. “I don’t know how suddenly the number of my followers exploded. It looks like they use a special machine or software,” said Inf-6. According to Susser et al. (2019), the issue of online manipulation has indeed risen and has become a public concern since the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica case in 2016. The online manipulation issue has been debated and studied by academics but has yet to find a bright spot.

Meanwhile, the corruption of communication contexts in digital personal branding was shown by Inf-3 and Inf-4 when displaying photos with celebrities and manipulating settings and activities.

I want to be an influencer, so I need to attract lots of followers and engagement. One of the ways is by presenting moments with celebrities that I know have tons of followers. Who knows, I might get splashed. Follower always looks at their idol. They want to know everything about their idols, including the people in their social circles. I take advantage of it, and nothing’s wrong! (Inf-3).

Inf-4, who desires to become a professional hairdresser, once posed fully equipped at a famous hair boutique, as if he was working. In fact, it was just a setting to impress him with the skill related to the job. “I am happy that there are many positive comments and praise. Because some netizens asked since when I joined the hair boutique, I lied by making up stories,” admitted Inf-4 while chuckling.

In a different situation, Fauziah’s (2020) study found this context manipulation strategy is also used by students to create the impression of being diligent in writing a thesis by posing with books, laptops, and glasses in a coffee shop. Warren (2018) mentioned that people tend to lie on social media. The cause of this phenomenon’s spread is that people tend to make social comparisons (Vogel et al., 2015). Therefore, Warren suggested not to easily believe the images people display on social media because they are not accurate. “Remind yourself that it is just a snapshot of their life—and one that they want you to see.” (Warren, 2018, para. 12).

Lastly, communication corruption in the behavioral dimension includes deliberate manipulation and deception. From several informants’ statements, all acts of communication corruption were carried out consciously and deliberately to smooth out communicative goals, both related to persuasion and image (Wijaya, 2013). For example, regarding portfolio manipulation, Inf-3 said that this was a natural thing because everyone wants to look attractive. Likewise, Inf-8 saw that visual touch-ups and image deception were not wrong because all of that is common today.

In their study of online dating, Hancock et al. (2007) found deceptive profiles associated with weight (5.6%), height (1.1%), and age (1.5%). Most of these deceptions will be difficult to detect immediately. Although small but frequent, the pattern of deception suggests that deception in online dating profiles is strategic. The results of Hancock et al. confirm the findings of this study, which reveal various deceptions and communication corruption strategies in personal branding through social media and digital platforms.

3.3. The hypoesthesia of communication corruption

Communication corruption does not only have the potential to occur in almost all persuasion and image communication activities (Wijaya, 20132022)—including personal branding, but it also makes some people banal or lose their sensitivity. Inf-2 admitted that he is used to manipulating information (which is part of communication corruption) on social media, and for him, it is not unusual. His friends also do a lot of the same thing, albeit in a different mode. According to him, social media is indeed an image medium, where everyone is free to polish himself to look good and be fun as an entrance to social relationships.

Just imagine if we display a lousy impression, let alone people who want to know or use our services, not even glancing. Maybe we are immediately blocked or blacklisted. How do you want to do social relations or get clients and customers then? (Inf-2).

This statement by Inf-2 was also shared by Inf-10. According to his experience, presenting himself as he is impossible on social media. Moreover, current technology allows people to do any touch-up, including personal information, quickly. However, Inf-10 provides a limit to the extent to which manipulation and exaggeration of facts can be tolerated, “The important thing is not to say that you are capable of something, but you cannot, or, say you have something, but you don’t. That is ridiculous! Because once you meet a client who needs your services, you will immediately be caught lying,” said Inf-10 with a laugh. The study of Kleim et al. (2019) revealed how social media users also tolerate image manipulation techniques through filter features, for example, related to tanning the skin, but do not tolerate image manipulation related to body shape.

Inf-10 admitted that he had manipulated the fact that he was working on a brand project he lost in pitching. He also displays his design works when pitching on social media. He was hiding because he lost the pitch, and the project he was working on was not a real project. Hiding the truth for a specific purpose is a corruption of communication (Wijaya, 2013). However, Inf-10 argued that he was not lying because the job was part of a brand project whose pitching, he participated in. Moreover, he displays the work that is real, not fiction, and not someone else’s work. The skill he “sells” on social media is indeed he has, and he can prove it if there are clients interested in using his services.

Inf-4 conveyed different reasons and views when he manipulated the context to present a confident impression regarding his professional circle of friends to strengthen his credibility and make him a product’s potential endorser. According to him, what he did by posing with public figures was a steppingstone to fame. Moreover, a public figure is known to be an expert in his field (professional hairdressing). So, when people consider him a friend or are in the public figure’s social circle, it will smooth his way as a professional hairdresser. His services will be expensive, his customers will overflow, and brands are lining up to ask him to become an endorser.

This effort is only a temporary strategy. So for me, it’s okay to be a little crafty. After all, no one was harmed. I don’t make the public figure down. Nor does it make people spend money to enjoy my setting. Everything is still normal. Besides, I don’t mean to deceive the public. All I do is to enhance my image to become a professional hairstylist in the future (Inf-4).

People tend to manipulate and deceive on social media (Warren, 2018). Petty lies (which Harwood, 2014 calls “easy lies”) are common. Many social media users do not realize, ignore, or do not care, because they consider it is not a serious problem, more fun than “truth,” and neither significant nor hurtful (DePaulo et al., 1996). Some people try to defend themselves (as the informants in this study say) or even normalize it. Kleim et al.’s (2019) findings in image fraud saw some social media users’ tolerant attitude regarding features or techniques used by other social media users, such as filter techniques to refine or beautify images. Apart from image manipulation, paraphrasing is the most commonly accepted idea of deception (Vartapetiance & Gillam, 2012).

The Caspi and Gorsky (2006) even saw a tendency for internet users to enjoy their deceptive actions. In contrast to face-to-face communication situations where deception is a hassle (DePaulo et al., 2003), users who deceive through computer-mediated communication do not show negative emotions such as guilt, shame, or fear of being caught (Caspi & Gorsky, 2006). Not surprisingly, in the digital world, many communication actors lose their sensitivity to morals and ethics (Crowell et al., 2005) regarding lying, deception, manipulation, cheating, and other communication corruption phenomena, as shown by the informants in this study.

The loss of sensitivity towards communication corruption we call it hypoesthesia of communication corruption. In medical, hypoesthesia is a condition in which the body is much less sensitive than usual to stimuli. It does not produce pain or becomes numb, which is due to decreased perception of stimuli (Backonja, 2007). Hypoesthesia analogy in communication corruption refers to the phenomenon of the perpetrator’s insensitivity to continue to corrupt communication without feeling guilty, even normalizing, and enjoying it, as revealed in Caspi & Gorsky’s research in Israel. They found that the frequent users deceive online more than infrequent users; young users are more than old, and competent users are more than non-competent. According to Caspi and Gorsky (2006), the most common motivation for cheating online is “play” on the one hand and privacy concerns on the other. Most people feel the pleasure of engaging in online deceptions.

Meanwhile, Kleim et al.’s (2019) study regarding body image fraud on social media noted several vital things. First, some digital imaging techniques (whether provided by social media features or gadgets) used by social media users can be tolerated by other users, such as the use of filter features and techniques to refine or contrast images, cropping, and so on. However, some other methods, such as changing body shape, seemed that other users could not tolerate. Second, users are more critical of the image manipulation of celebrities than friends who commit lies. Third, deception occurs in the use of hashtags that make the meaning of manipulative images shift from body image matters to the issues of health and fitness.

In an academic context, Wijaya et al. (2021) found that educational professionals also consider actions such as manipulating data in reports, ghost authorship, or free riding in authorship identities as typical they do for personal branding impact on career and position. Some students also consider copy-pasting without mentioning a reference source is also a common thing and many of their colleagues do in writing their final assignments (Fauziah, 2020).

Several causes for this phenomenon exist. First, technology facilitates manipulation and fraudulent in communication for imaging and persuasion purposes, including personal branding. This convenience makes users think pragmatically to smooth out their goals or fulfill their needs, such as getting good grades in final assignments (Fauziah, 2020), student personal branding for professional purposes (Nasution, 2020), body image (Kleim et al., 2019), and other communicative goals. The second, the permissiveness of the audience. Nasution’s (2020) reveals that prospective recipients of college graduates do not question the manipulative and corrupt efforts of students’ communication in polishing themselves through personal branding on social media as long as they can prove the skills, knowledge, and capabilities the company needs. Kleim et al. (2019) also reveal social media users’/audiences’ tolerance to image manipulation by other users. Third, related to personality and intelligence. The study of Sarzyńska et al. (2017) revealed that people who are low on agreeableness and intelligent extraverts are more likely to lie. It means intelligence may mediate the relationship between personality traits and the frequency of lying.

Finally, other reasons people engage in identity fraud include privacy concerns, mental illness, the freedom to become what one considers the true self, and the desire to explore alternative selves (Johnson et al., 2001).

4. Conclusion

With all the advantages of social media and digital platforms, personal branding efforts can be more impactful and efficient. On the other hand, it stimulates the temptation for its users to engage in communication corruption. Several modes of communication corruption by students were detected in this study, both in the dimensions of the message, media, context, and behavior. Manipulating content through visual touch-ups and information related to portfolios is a common practice for students to increase the credibility and trust of a prospective client or employer. Students also abuse social media and its distinctive features to deceive, including by “buying” followers. Building a communication context through setting and event engineering is another form of communication corruption by students in digital personal branding. No less surprising, all acts of communication corruption are carried out consciously and deliberately. They consider it normal, and it is commonly done by most people today. This fact indicates students’ integrity and quality in branding themselves in the digital era, both for getting clients to use their freelancers’ skills and attract potential employers.

Because this study is limited to communication corruption in students’ social media personal branding, the next studies can explore personal branding cases in different circles. Communication corruption can be done by anyone, any group, and any organization. It can also occur in many types of branding. This assumption rests on the theoretical proposition that communication corruption generally occurs in persuasive and imaging efforts. And branding, as it was destined to be, was born for it.

Acknowledgments

We thank the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, LLDikti 3, and LPP Bakrie University for supporting this study.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia (Kementerian Pendidikan, Kebudayaan, Riset, dan Teknologi Republik Indonesia) [069/E5/PG.02.00.PT/2022, sub no. 241/SPK/LPP-UB/VI/2022].