There has been discussion and argument over this topic for a while now. It appears that at least one researcher has reason to believe that who we are on Facebook is, well, who we are.
U. TEXAS-AUSTIN—Online social networks such as Facebook are being used to express and communicate real personality, instead of an idealized virtual identity, according to new research from psychologist Sam Gosling.
“I was surprised by the findings because the widely held assumption is that people are using their profiles to promote an enhanced impression of themselves,” says Gosling of the more than 700 million people worldwide who have online profiles. “In fact, our findings suggest that online social networking profiles convey rather accurate images of the profile owners, either because people aren’t trying to look good or because they are trying and failing to pull it off.
Kevin Gilbert