Selfie-taking motives and social psychological dispositions as predictors of selfie-related activities among university students in Kuwait

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali A. Al-Kandari ◽  
Yasser Abuelmakarem Abdelaziz
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
University Students ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Self Presentation ◽  
Perceived Attractiveness

This study explores motives for taking and posting selfies on social media and whether those motives and other social psychological dispositions predict the selfie-related activities of “taking,” “posting,” and “editing” selfies. A sample of 404 university students in Kuwait indicated they took and posted selfies for motives of appraisal-seeking self-presentation (ASSP), entertainment, status-updating self-presentation (SUSP) and documentation. Females were more likely to be involved in selfie-related activities and to use selfies for ASSP. Documentation was the prime predictor of the activity of “taking” selfies, SUSP was for “posting” selfies, and ASSP was for “editing” selfies. Self-perceived attractiveness predicted the activities of “posting” and “taking” selfies. Results are discussed in light of the influence of culture in Kuwait and some conceptual considerations about selfies are made.

Examining associations between university students' mobile social media use, online self-presentation, social support and sense of belonging

2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hua Pang
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Social Media ◽  
University Students ◽  
Psychosocial Development ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Self Presentation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Use ◽  
Recreational Use

PurposeThe primary objectives of the article are to systematically investigate the effects of differentiated functions of WeChat use (social use and recreational use) on university students' online self-presentation, social support and sense of belonging.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected from a web-based survey on a sample of 485 university students in mainland China. Correlation analyses and structural equation modeling (SEM) were implemented to address the corresponding hypotheses.FindingsThe results demonstrate that the social use of WeChat is positively related to online self-presentation, whereas recreational use is unrelated to such behavior. Additionally, the findings verify that online self-presentation is a significant predictor of both social support and sense of belonging. Furthermore, online self-presentation could mediate the influence of social use of WeChat on social support and sense of belonging.Research limitations/implicationsTheoretically, the study represents an initial effort to elucidate the joint impact of differentiated functions of WeChat use and online self-presentation on social support and sense of belonging. Practically, these findings identify the crucial mediation role of online self-presentation in assisting individuals to acquire social support and promote sense of belonging.Originality/valueAlthough mobile social media has brought dramatic revolutions in interaction and interpersonal behaviors, the empirically studies regarding the potential influences of its utilization are equivocal. These outcomes may shed meaningful light on the comprehending of unique characteristics of WeChat communication and how it could impact people's psychosocial development in the digital era.

scholarly journals #reimagining Arab Women’s Social Media Empowerment and the Postdigital Condition

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 205630512110101
Author(s):  
Zoe Hurley
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Social Actor ◽  
Critical Perspective ◽  
Self Presentation ◽  
Physical Spaces ◽  
Self Presentations

Social media intersects across physical spaces, digital infrastructures, and social subjectivities in terms of what is being called the “postdigital,” in an increasingly merging offline/online world. But what precisely does it mean to be “postdigital” if you are an Arab woman or social actor in the Global South? How does access to social networking sites, while increasing visibilities, also provide potential for increased agency? This study is concerned with the extent to which Arab women’s self-presentation practices on Instagram could be considered as empowering, or otherwise, within the postdigital condition. First, the study takes Instagram as a case to develop a theoretical framework for considering social media as a tertiary artifact, involving material, routine-symbolic, and conceptual affordances. Second, it applies the artifact framework to explore a corpus of self-presentations by five Arab women influencers. Feminist postdigital theorizing offers unique contributions to problematizing normative, ethnocentric, and neoliberal conceptions of Arab women’s empowerment. The application of the novel framework leads to an interpretative discussion of Arab women’s influencing practices across merging offline/online and transnational boundaries. Overall, the critical perspective begins to reimagine Arab women’s empowerment, not simply as individualized or material processes, but as agencies that are interwoven within the commercialized and conceptual dynamics of visual social media.

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