Self-expression vs. Privacy: Social media as a communication strategy?

In times of Privacy-General Regulation and Privacy Discussions at Facebook the topic is more topical than ever: How should you deal with your data when you present yourself on the internet? An overview.

Cultivate staging

Should Internet users strictly separate the private from the public, or should they on the contrary turn their innermost outside? Neither is ideal. The model of success is: Forget the inexperienced “authenticity” - cultivate the staging.

In a post about "More Quality of life thanks smartphone, eMail, Chat and Co ”, our reader Benjamin Wagener asked why electronic Communication Should be of less value than direct communication, just because eye contact and conscious awareness of the other is missing. His counter-argument:

To be myself?

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Even in real life, according to Wagener, many people maintain a façade. Wagener even says:

“So what's the point of direct contact, the nuances of voice etc. if these advantages are not used in terms of content? I maintain: Only the relative has many Distance of Internet made to open up and confide in others in the first place because they can communicate more relaxed behind the keyboard when they are not exposed to each other's eyes."

The study "uniebook Profiles Reflect Actual Personality, Not Self-Idealization” the Johannes GutenbergUniversity Mainz seems to agree with Wagener: According to this study, most people want social media networks be yourself as much as possible and express your own personality. In cooperation with American colleagues, the Mainz psychologists examined a total of 236 German (studiVZ/meinVZ) and American (Facebook) User profiles.

Personality vs. self image

Questionnaires raised the actual personality traits of profile owners as well as their idealized self-images (ie the idea of ​​how they would like to be). Subsequently, foreign judges saw the user profiles and gave their personality impression. The foreign judgments were then compared with the actual personality as well as the self-ideal of the profile owners.

It turns out that the spontaneous impressions of the foreign judges correspond to the actual characteristics of the profile owners and are not falsified by their self-idealization. The results contradict the view that Online-Profiles are only used to create a deceptive virtual identity.

Idiots in the sense of the ancient Greeks?

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This openness makes many people Anxiety. Because, that's the usual Opinions, in the privacy should you give yourself as you are. But too much openness has lost nothing in public and even in the professional environment. Here lies the original meaning of the word idiocy: In ancient Greece, an idiot was a person who did not separate the private from the public. And that's exactly what many do Peoplewhen presenting themselves on the Internet.

So many Internet users are idiots? Or not?

With openness to success

In October 2010, Uwe Knaus, Daimler's blog manager, received a memorable one Application for a social media internship:

“I'm addicted to social media… yes, I hereby officially acknowledge myself. Nothing can sweeten my day more than the golden ringing of a new message on Facebook and a hoped-for retweet ... Yes, it is ... I keep receiving reports of harassment for following people on the street. And worst of all: ... My boyfriend now only speaks to me as @Schatzi ... The only thing that can help me now is the structured use of social media. I count on your support. "

The limits of good taste?

The sender was Regensburg graduate Natascha Müller, who caused heated discussions among staff and social media experts. Because Knaus had the application, initially anonymous, published in his private blog - not without his own impression:

“At first I thought: This is not possible! Someone made a joke, or someone else submitted a fake application. Let's assume that Write to is not fake. Then it's amusing, frankly, Honestly, funny, outstanding and the applicant is remembered. But it doesn't fit Daimler - or does it? If Die Dame had applied to an agency with that, she could probably have started tomorrow. thoughts upon thoughts. She has at least achieved one thing: I deal with her application for an above-average length of time and intensively.”

Professional staging as a success strategy of our time

And that was exactly what it was Success von Müller's application: With her cheeky, unconventional manner, she not only got the blog manager of a global automobile company to think, but also reached large audiences via Twitter, mostly in agreement awareness . So openness and authenticity as a strategy for success in our time?

The matter is much more complicated and complex. Because not every form of openness is well received.

The perfect-authentic self-expression

The management consultant Best of HR - Berufebilder.de® author Olaf Hinz even warns against overdoing it with authenticity:

“What it takes is a coherent Appear or a coherent staging. And staging in particular also has the role models/expectations of the Employees, colleagues or the audience in view. Because who highly personal, authentic and 'honest' comes from his professional environment fast perceived as 'too close' and 'too private'. I think it needs a professional appearance that is neither adjusted nor too private by 'keeping a balance' between authenticity and the performance of the role: a coherent staging."

Political scientist Eva Horn works and masters this staging in her preferred social media channel, Twitter, perfectly: with her green hair, the rather random snapshot and the cheeky saying “I often stay up late, drink a lot and feel ashamed of all of us ”You perceive your profile as a private and therefore particularly authentic channel.

First think, then tweet

Nevertheless Horn also thinks exactly what she tweets and what does not, because she knows very well who reads everything - and to which misunderstandings the interlocking of private and public can lead:

“With self-expression in social networks, it's like everywhere else: some do it more than others, it's just part of it. However, I would never tweet any crap to get more followers. That would be dishonest. What you write has to fit you. I keep very private things like my love life to myself. But people are allowed to know that I am a complete misanthrope and sometimes drink a little more. Spontaneous expressions of feelings too, even if that sometimes causes irritation: I once tweeted 'accidentally started crying' - after that many people thought I must be feeling really bad because I'm doing this publicly. These are just brief snapshots. There are just a lot of people who don't understand the irony and cynicism with which Twitter pushes topics to extremes in 140 characters. That has to suit you. I've already gotten a lot of professional contacts and job offers through Twitter, and I also tweet officially for the Greens - they've already noticed that I'm good forms can. In the official account of a party or Company However, private statements have no place, you have to strictly separate them, otherwise it looks unprofessional!”

Strategy or idiocy?

So a well thought out one Strategy, which have nothing to do with “idiotic” Behavior has to do.

One should not take everything so seriously in social networks, because things here are often sharpened. That's part of the game. But even if you know that, it's not always easy to see through the game. And there is always the danger that one gets a wrong picture from others.

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