For this assignment I chose to interview a close friend, Ben. Ben was a good subject because I know him well and can easily detect some of his identity-based deception in his Facebook profile. Ben averaged a 4 on Catalina’s “accurate-inaccurate” scale.
When I asked Ben to rate his profile picture he settled with a 4, explaining that his hair was a bit long and that it is an older picture. Knowing his perception about his “ideal self,” I would say that he had some self-presentation goals in mind. Despite having newer, more accurate pictures at his expenditure, this older photo includes a pair of drumsticks crossed in front of his face as he stares into the camera lens. To me, this is important to Ben because he is attempting to portray an image; an image that portrays him as a sort-of “tough guy” when, in fact, he is one of the more sensitive people I know (I would give him a 2 or a 3 in this case). I considered this to be an assessment signal because of the many inferences one could make based on his profile picture (“tough guy”, “drummer”, “unruly” etc.). Aside from this and his e-mail address, I thought the rest of his deception fell under conventional signals.
One conventional signal was Ben’s “T.V. shoes category which he rated a 1. He explained that this was because he doesn’t watch any of the shows that he listed and that he doesn’t watch much T.V. at all. Although I didn’t disagree with him because I know that Ben doesn’t watch much T.V., I questioned whether he was still trying to contribute to his masculine image by including “Monday Night Football” as one of his favorites.
Finally, if we jump to Ben’s “Favorite Music” section we can confirm his reasons for personality deception. His music tastes are likened to hard rock bands like Stand, Metallica, and Breaking Benjamin, who have a stereotypic “callous personalities.” Because I understand his passion for this type of music and his dream to be like these bands (Ideal self), I understood his reasons for selective self-presenting his profile this way. However, if someone who didn’t know Ben glanced over his profile, the implications might suggest that Ben is a “tough guy” based on his assessment and conventional signals.
Hancock’s Feature-based model suggests that this asynchronous, identity-based deception allows Ben time to send a certain message to people that view his Facebook profile. Although I think some of his interests and activities accurately describe him, I think he is attempting to portray himself in a different light.
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WHEWWWWW! Monday night football, tackling, muscles, PROTEIN POWDWERRRR. Nice post Brandon. Did you ridicule your friend Ben after this assignment? I liked your applications of the theories we learned in class. I agree that Ben used selective self presentation goals to convey his “ideal” self. You also mentioned the Feature-Based Model (FBM) and how facebook’s asynchronicity increased the likelihood of lying. However, Ben’s behavior slightly neglects FBM’s recordless and distributed categories. Since facebook is both recordable and distributed, Ben should have been less inclined to lie. Also, going along with the FBM, I am curious if on the phone—the most prevalent lying medium—if Ben would continue to “lie” and give off a tough guy image, particularly when speaking to girls. Do you think he would try to talk in a harsher, tougher voice and use more crude language? I actually think that, in contrast to what the FBM says, your friend would be more hesitant to “lie” or portray the tougher image via phone. Phone, Ben, lie? ...Discuss
Brandon,
What an interesting post! I agree with Matt, that according to the FBM model, Ben should have been less likely to lie. Since your experiment validly contradicts this, I wonder what makes facebook an easier outlet for "white lies." I believe that lies should really be differentiated in all theories we discuss, since there is obviously such a differentiation between types of lies. Ben's lies seemed to be for the most part, accidental, convenient or hardly noticeable. As a friend, not dissecting Ben's profile, I wonder if you really would have called Ben out on the minor details that weren't in sync with his personality or lifestyle. Such lies, I believe, would be hard to detect in any medium, regardless of the richness, since they are reminiscent or close to the truth. I wonder then, if your experiment is a valid exception to FBM, or simply an example of a qualifier or distinction that needs to be made to make the theory stronger.
Hey Brandon, It seems like we had very similar experiences with this assignment. We both described one of our friends who was trying to seem either more tough, macho, or cool by "lying" on his Facebook profile. While you make good points, I think Matthew pointed out an important point about the FBM. The fact that Facebook is recordable, according to the theory, should make it less likely that your friend will lie. When I looked at this situation, I chose to analyze it using the Social Distance Theory. Facebook is more socially distant than face to face communication, so my friend chose to lie. I don't know about your friend, but my friend would not tell these same lies in person if approached and asked these questions. Does you friend get nervous when he lies? Does he give it away with visual cues? These are interesting questions to think about when deciding whether he would deceive in face to face as well.
I first clicked on this post because I found the title a little funny. As I read through it I understood just why you titled it as you did. Honestly I didn't image people really change so much stuff online in order to look "tougher" or "cooler"... It reminds me of all the people you see walking around in everyday life. When they are in a group with their friends and will say anything to anyone walking by them or near them ect, then one of those poeople comes back by for closure, and all the sudden.... "im sorry i didn't mean it, look im really sorry man. I don't know how common of a of an image that is for most people however, but let me say its hilarious when it happens :)
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