A Facebook profile is comprised of three major aspects: pictures, stock personal information (name, address, numbers, etc.) and other optional personal information (interests, activities, music, movies, etc.) This information provides a variety of assessment and conventional signals. I believe that in Facebook, there are a quite a number of assessment signals. These signals come in the form of pictures, although they could potentially be faked, specific personal information, and from the network that a Facebook user is listed under. This variety of information can be classified under the heading assessment signals because it would be difficult and take a lot of research in order to create a false Facebook profile of a real person. In addition to a multitude of assessment signals, Facebook provides users with a wide range of conventional signals. The conventional signals available to Facebook users fall into the categories that are optional when making a Facebook profile (interests, activities, music, movies, etc.) Many people who use Facebook choose to fill in these spaces, but because they are optional and there are a variety of assessment signals present in profiles, one should not rely on the supplied information for verification of someone’s identity. Some of the easiest ways to verify a person’s identity on Facebook is by looking at their pictures, friends list, and wall posts/conversations. Using these areas of Facebook is an easy way of verifying identities because they utilize a form of third-party verification that is unlikely to be faked or deceptive.
When I interviewed my friend about his Facebook profile he rated everything as a 5 (extremely accurate). At first I was skeptical about everything being extremely accurate, however, I found no indication that any of the information that he provided had been falsified. In fact, my friend provided more information that even I, his friend, knew about him. I believe that his profile was very accurate because he has no reason to lie to the people that view his profile. Because he anticipates a face to face interaction with almost everyone able to see his profile any lies or falsified information would be easily exposed. Also, because the people that view his profile are his friends and know a substantial amount of information about him, he is unable to lie about anything. Furthermore, I believe that he is a very truthful person and if he was presented with an opportunity to lie he would tell the truth anyway.
My friend used a very simple form of impression management when making his profile. He decided that it was important to appear appealing to his friends by not posting negative things about himself. However, he did not take this idea to the extent that he was willing to lie about his identity in order to make himself more appealing. Rather, he simply chose to omit the information that could be perceived as negative and discourage others from networking with him. I believe that he did this because the people that he networks are his friends. Because they already know him and are friends with him, he does not need to put up an appealing façade in order to attract others to his profile. Also, his truthfulness is a way to encourage others to be truthful and to trust him, enabling them to network much more efficiently via Facebook.
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Great point about the third-party verification. Since Facebook has a unique mixed-mode component (you know most of those you interact with from F2F encounters), it is easier to prove deception. As the profile creator, you are less likely to attempt deceptable when you know your entire Network is holding you accountable.
For example)
I am the kind of person who has fun with their Facebook. I don't take myself too seriously and that is pretty evident on my online profile- often simply through my profile picture choice. I've displayed a picture of my South Park character likeness, Deuce Bigalow (inside joke- rest easy), and two photos in which I sketchily Photoshopped in various famous athletes (Hey, I always wanted a picture with Kris Letang...). It is interesting to hear the type of responses I recieve when I make such choices. People usually call me out immediately if a picture a) is not me, b) doesn't look like me, or even c) isn't attractive. They are right. Facebook deception isn't necessarily a smart strategic move: when I had up my picture with the clearly photoshopped Kris Letang, I missed an opportunity to be friends with a Rangers player. My friend was giving him my name until, gasp, she remembered I had a profile picture with another NHL player... she thought it would creep the Ranger out(I still verbally abuse her about this).
Sorry for that anecdote, clearly I'm bitter.
Your explication of the functionalities of Facebook, and their application to impression management and deception is great. I had a similar experience, with a friend who was essentially very truthful in his profile, but simply conscientiously omitted some things. Indeed, people can be very strategic with their Facebook profiles, elevating it to the level of "impression management chess". However, considering that people are so strategic with how they portray themselves to others through their profiles, it is safe to say that they view the profiles of others with the same degree of scrutiny.
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