Personality Depends on The Medium: Differences in Self-Perception on SnapChat, Facebook and Offline

We investigate self-perception in social media through the lens of personality theory. Two mixed-methods studies involving 148 participants examine if people self-report different personality traits in social media compared with their offline traits. We first compare offline and Facebook traits, finding that on Facebook people are less Neurotic, Open and Agreeable. A second study compared offline, Facebook and Snapchat traits, replicating and extending our initial results. Again Facebook personality was less Neurotic and less Open than offline. In contrast, Snapchat personality was more Extravert than both offline and Facebook and more Open than Facebook. Interviews indicate how personality differences arise from social media affordances. Anxiety about audience judgments leads people to curate posts to appear less Neurotic on social media, but the transience of Snapchat promotes greater Extraversion than offline and Facebook. We discuss theory and design implications.