What Does Your Profile Picture Say About You? The Accuracy of Thin-Slice Personality Judgments from Social Networking Sites Made at Zero-Acquaintance

The study investigates impressions formed through social networking sites, specifically the initial judgments we make of others when first momentarily exposed to their photograph. The personality characteristics of 52 Female Facebook profile owners were evaluated by a group of raters who briefly viewed the current profile picture of each person. Analysis revealed consensus between raters when judging personality attributes, although self-other agreement was low: raters' judgments correlated with profile owners' judgments of their own personality for only 2 out of the 10 attributes examined. Profile owners perceived as more physically attractive were rated more positively on other personality attributes. Smiling, and being alone or with others in a profile picture was also demonstrated to have a significant impact on personality assessments. It was concluded that whilst profile pictures can strongly influence how we judge others, such initial judgments are not highly likely to be accurate.