Who Uses Social Networking Sites? Exploring Associations among Personality and the Relationship with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Social network sites are attracting the attention of numerous researchers. Recently, several studies have examined how people are forming identities on social networking sites. Therefore, greater levels of variable specification are required to further the research on this topic. Testing the relationships among key variables is important when trying to understand these online social forums. Although there has been a rapid growth in the use of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, psychological theory explaining the use of social networks lags. Therefore, the purpose of this research is 1) to examine how personality traits influence which type of social network site individuals will use, and 2) to investigate whether specific social network sites are eliciting the display of particular personality characteristics. Fifty-five participants were recruited through social media (i.e., Facebook) and 239 participants were obtained from a Western University to participate in a survey. Researchers found no associations between overt narcissism and having social network accounts. Surprisingly, there was significant correlations between having personality characteristics of both conscientiousness and honesty and using Instagram. Finally, there was a significant correlation amongst covert narcissism and using Facebook. By recognizing relationships between variables such as personality and social network site usage, psychologists can work towards understanding how the online web is changing our social lives and social behaviors.