{"id":85,"date":"2019-04-24T15:44:33","date_gmt":"2019-04-24T07:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Open\/?p=85"},"modified":"2019-04-24T15:53:10","modified_gmt":"2019-04-24T07:53:10","slug":"impression-management-and-self-presentation-techniques-allow-profile-owners-to-present-a-professional-identity-on-linkedin-improving-the-perception-of-their-professional-character","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Open\/2019\/04\/24\/impression-management-and-self-presentation-techniques-allow-profile-owners-to-present-a-professional-identity-on-linkedin-improving-the-perception-of-their-professional-character\/","title":{"rendered":"Impression management and self-presentation techniques allow profile owners to present a professional identity on LinkedIn improving the perception of their professional character"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Impression Management and Self-presentation on LinkedIn.docx<\/a>Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n


This essay explores the construction of identity in the online environment with a focus on professional identity on social networking sites such as LinkedIn. It does so by discussing the notion of identity being fluid, ever changing in nature and adaptable to its environment allowing individuals to present a certain identity depending on the context and audience. It further explores the use of social networking site Linkedin and the ways in which profile owners in the network employ impression management and self-presentation techniques to construct their profile to represent a professional identity to improve or better the perception of their professional character in the online environment. <\/em> I<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LinkedIn was founded in 2003 and is a professional social\nnetworking site that allows profile owners to present and promote their\nprofessional identities. The platform differs from other social networking\nsites such as Facebook that focusses more on social relations rather than\nexpanding one\u2019s network of professional connections (Rapanta & Cantoni,\n2017). As 92% of recruiters use the social networking site LinkedIn to screen\npotential job applicants and infer personality characteristics (Van de Ven,\nBogaert, Serlie, Brandt & Denissen, 2017), it is considered the most\ninfluential social networking platform for professional use (Rapanta &\nCantoni, 2017). As such, profile owners must understand the need to present a\nprofile that reflects a competent professional identity, rather than a social\nidentity that would be more appropriate on an alternative social networking\nsite such as Facebook. Constructing a profile that promotes an authentic,\ncompetent and professional identity requires a concerted effort and can be achieved\nthrough self-presentation and impression management tactics. Such tactics\ninclude using a profile picture that promotes professionalism, presenting\ninformation that highlights a profile owner\u2019s skills and achievements, encouraging\nthe endorsement of skills and achievements by other users in the network and connecting\nwith other professionals in relevant fields. Employing effective\nself-presentation and impression management techniques ensures that a profile\nowner presents a positive professional identity, controls their professional\nbrand and maintains their professional reputation. It also has the potential to\nincrease employment opportunities for profile owners when used effectively as\nrecruiters are able to locate the right candidate and connect job seekers with their\nsought after employment (Rapanta & Cantoni, 2017). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before discussing the use of self-presentation and impression\nmanagement techniques and the platform LinkedIn, it is first relevant to\ndiscuss the concept of identity and the ability to present multiple identities\ndepending on the context. Yunn-Yu Sun argues that identity is flexible, ever\nchanging in nature and can be constructed by an individual based on their needs\nto respond to different demands and expectations (Yunn-Yu Sun, 2012). As a\nresult, people consciously and unconsciously represent themselves in a variety\nof ways and forms (Fitzpatrick, Lange and Radosh, 2016).  The reason for this being that our identity\noften affects and determines how we understand and represent ourselves and is\nalso often the basis of how we are recognised and subsequently treated by\nothers (Yunn-Yu Sun, 2012).  Kulich, de\nLemus, Kosakowska-Berezecka and Lorenzi-Ciolodi argue that we have multiple\nidentities that operate simultaneously. Such identities may be inherited\nidentities based on factors like gender and race, achieved identities based on\nprofessional achievements or social identities based on interests and groups\nthat we belong too (Kulich, de Lemus, Kosakowska-Berezecka and Lorenzi-Ciolodi,\n2017). This is relevant to identity in real life as well as in the online\nmediated environment and people do not only seek to manage the perception of\noneself face to face but also online, especially on social networking sites\nsuch as LinkedIn (Paliszkiewicz & Madra-Sawicka, 2016). The most\nsignificant difference in real life and online identity may lay in the level of\ncontrol one has in their presentation online (Yunn-Yu Sun, 2012). Identity\nonline tends to be more carefully crafted and is often constructed by choice to\nrepresent a specific identity providing a user with a greater degree of control\nover how they are projecting and being recognised by others (Yunn-Yu, 2012).\nThis identity is proactively formed, standardised and presented voluntarily for\nsocial or professional purposes (Yunn-Yu Sun, 2012). The online identity has\ntherefore become more fluid with different online identities being presented\nand established depending on the online community or network the user is\nparticipating in (Yunn-Yu Sun, 2012). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social networking site LinkedIn is a platform focused on building business\nrelationships and fostering interaction between professionals in similar\nindustries and job seekers with recruiters. The platform is used to search for\njobs, recommend other professionals using the platform and receive\nrecommendations or endorsements from users in the network (Paliszkiewicz &\nMadra-Sawicka, 2016). It has more than 363 million members in over 200 countries\nearning its popularity among recruitment professionals and job seekers\n(Paliszkiewicz & Madra-Sawicka, 2016). It is a platform for both employers\nto promote themselves and job applicants to promote their work history and\nskills to leave a positive impression (Liu, 2018).  LinkedIn has differentiated itself with\nprofile owners being encouraged to tailor their profile to represent their\nprofessional selves (Kuo-Huie Chiang & Hung-Yue Suen, 2015). Liu considers\nLinkedIn to be similar to a comprehensive interview with no set time or place\ncausing profile owners with no choice but to tailor their profile to perform\nprofessionally at all times with the audience being outside of their control\n(Liu, 2018).  Recruiters are increasingly\nlooking to job seekers\u2019 profiles on social networking sites like LinkedIn to\nexamine experience and skills and to infer personality characteristics from profile\nowners (Van de Ven, Bogaert, Serlie, Brandt & Denissen, 2017).  Personality assessment is a commonly used tool\nin recruitment processes in the online and offline environment and recruiters\nare not only analysing a profile owners\u2019 work history and skills to gauge\npotential job performance, but also personality characteristics presented\nonline to ensure a person fits the job as well as the organisation. With\nLinkedIn being an influential recruitment tool, self-presentation and impression\nmanagement online has therefore become vital and the need to maintain a\npositive and competent professional identity on the social networking site is\nessential to impress other professionals in similar fields as well as potential\nemployers (Liu, 2018). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the online environmental enables profile owners to promote\ndifferent identities depending on the context, profile owners have great opportunity\nand choice on how they project and bearing on how they are recognised by\nothers. This has led to profile owners developing processes and tactics in\nimpression management to promote their professional selves on platforms like\nLinkedIn. Impression management is considered to be a conscious process in\nwhich people attempt to influence the perception of oneself and this is done by\ncontrolling and managing the information presented online, especially on social\nnetworking sites given the frequency in which users are engaging in social\nmedia (Paliszkiewicz & Madra-Sawicka, 2016).  On social networking sites, the aim of\nimpression management is to control the impression of others with the\ninformation, photos and videos you present and in the way in which you present\nthis in social media (Paliszkiewicz & Madra-Sawicka, 2016). Profile owners\nthereby employ different impression management tactics to manage how they are\nbeing presented online depending on the platform and its audience.  As LinkedIn is designed for professional use,\nthe identity presented on this platform is targeted at other professionals and\njob recruiters and are careful as to how their profile is presented. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A LinkedIn profile includes information about the profile owner\u2019s job\ntitle, detailed employment history, professional accomplishments and education\n(Paliszkiewicz & Madra-Sawicka, 2016) and acts as an online resume. Therefore,\nthe more information a profile owner includes, the more likely a recruitment\nprofessional will gain an understanding of the individual\u2019s personality, behaviour\nand authenticity (Paliszkiewicz & Madra-Sawicka, 2016). Including your\nrelevant skills within your profile on the social networking site and including\na detailed description of your skills, strengthens your professional identity\nand allows others within the network to \u201cendorse\u201d your skills. Endorsement of a\nprofile owner\u2019s skills is a public or official statement of support or approval\nwith a profile owner\u2019s reputation being built on the endorsement of others\n(Rapata & Cantoni, 2017). This virtual endorsement of your skills is\nconsidered a way of self-presentation through which professionals can brand\nthemselves to other professionals in similar fields or to potential recruiters\n(Rapata & Cantoni, 2017). An additional function of the platform is its\nability to connect with others within the network actively encouraging users to\nconnect with colleagues or other professionals in a similar field. Connecting\nwith others on the platform is also considered an act of self-presentation and\nis critical to impression management as the more users you connect with, the\nmore you establish an authentic identity in the online environment (Rapata\n& Cantoni, 2017). The presentation of identity on social networking sites\nsuch as LinkedIn can therefore be the key to success or failure in terms of job\nseekers and potential recruiters (Paliszkiewicz & Madra-Sawicka, 2016). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, due to the virtuality of the online platform, all\ninformation that is presented by a profile owner is symbolic and meaningful and\ndesigned to cast the profile owner in a positive and professional light (Liu,\n2018). Profile owners engage in self-presentation practices carefully selecting\nthe information presented to not only present their professional self but to\nalso increase employment opportunities, conduct business, establish professional\nrelationships, express and promote their professional selves or to correct\ninaccurate impressions that colleagues or past employers may have of them\n(Paliszkiewicz & Madra-Sawicka, 2016). This includes the choice of profile\npictures with research indicating that users who post a profile picture along\nwith their LinkedIn profile are perceived as more socially attractive and more\ncompetent than users who do not post a picture (Paliszkiewicz &\nMadra-Sawicka, 2016). The picture selected for user\u2019s profile on LinkedIn\ntherefore tends to convey a message of professionalism and reliability (Liu,\n2018) as personality characteristics can be inferred from the choice of\nclothing, style or pose from the image selected (Van de Ven, Bogaert, Serlie,\nBrandt & Denissen, 2017). Additionally, poor gramma or typographical errors\ncan create a negative impression and lead to the assumption that the profile\nowner is incompetent or has poor to attention to detail (Paliszkiewicz &\nMadra-Sawicka, 2016). With 92% of recruiters using the social networking site\nLinkedIn to screen potential job applicants, managing this self-presentation in\nonline networks is an integral part of our professional lives and profile\nowners must strategically present characteristics that they believe others will\napprove of while promoting an authentic and competent self (Paliszkiewicz &\nMadra-Sawicka, 2016).   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the notion of identity is flexible, ever changing in nature and\ncan be constructed depending on the context and audience, different social\nnetworking sites enable us to present different identities such as our social\nidentity or our professional identity.  Self-presentation and impression management\npractices on social networking sites therefore have become a significant part\nof our online practice crafting our online identity in response to different\ndemands, needs and audience.  Platforms\nsuch as LinkedIn that are designed and dedicated to professionals and is\nfocused on business relationships and interactions, offer people greater\nopportunity to present a professional idenity and appeal to potential\nrecruiters. Having the ability to manage your online identity to promote a\nprofessional image, include a detailed work history and skills and having\nendorsements from other professional within your field not only gives you the\nopportunity to self-brand and strengthen your professional identity, it\nestablishes credibility and authenticity for your professional identity.  Employing impression management and\nself-presentation practices can as a result assist users with employment\nopportunities presenting a competent profile for potential positions. In turn,\nit can assist recruiters to find the right candidates for positions by\nreviewing a profile, determining suitability and competence as well as\ninferring personality characteristics to assess whether the candidate is\nqualified for the position and is a nice fit for the company.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Reference List <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fitzpatrick, C,. Lange, R,. & Radosh, J. (2016). A pilot investigation of Goffman\u2019s self-presentation theory    as applied LinkedIn. Retrieved from: https:\/\/responsejournal.net\/issue\/2016-11\/article\/pilot-investigation-goffman%E2%80%99s-self-presentation-theory-applied-linkedin<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kulich, C,.  De Lemus, S,.  Kosakowska-Berezecka, N,. & Lorenzi-Cioldi, F, (2017). Multiple identities management: Effects on (of) identification, attitudes, behavior and well-being. Frontiers in Psychology, 8<\/em>(2258), 1-4. https:\/\/doi\/ 10.3389\/fpsyg.2017.02258<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kuo-Huie, J,. & Suen, H. (2015). Self-presentation and hiring recommendations in online communities: Lessons from LinkedIn. Computers in Human Behavior, 48<\/em>, 516-524.     https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1016\/j.chb.2015.02.017<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lui, S. (2018). Self-presentation on LinkedIn: From the perspective of mediation. Retrieved from https:\/\/blogs.commons.georgetown.edu\/cctp-748-spring2018\/2018\/05\/05\/self-presentation-on-linkedin-from-the-perspective-of-mediation\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paliszkiewicz, J,. & Madra-Sawicka, M. (2016). Impression management in social media: The example of LinkedIn. Management, 11(<\/em>3), 203-212<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rapanta, C., & Cantoni, L. (2017). The LinkedIn endorsement game: Why and how professionals attribute skills to others. Business and Professional Communications Quarterly, 80<\/em>(4), 443-459.                 https:\/\/doi\/10.1177\/2329490616677044<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van de Ven, N., & Bogaert, A. (2017). Personality perception based on LinkedIn profiles. Journal of  Managerial Psychology, 32<\/em>(6), 419-429. http:\/\/doi\/10.1108\/JMP-07-2016-0220<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yunn-Yu Sun, C. (2012). Something old, something new, something borrows, something blue: The construction of online identity and consequences. International Journal of People-Orientated Programming, 2<\/em>(1), 53-73. https:\/\/doi\/10.4018\/ijpop.2012010103<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This essay explores the construction of identity in the online environment with a focus on professional identity on social networking sites such as LinkedIn. It does so by discussing the notion of identity being fluid, ever changing in nature and adaptable to its environment allowing individuals to present a certain identity depending on the context… Continue reading Impression management and self-presentation techniques allow profile owners to present a professional identity on LinkedIn improving the perception of their professional character<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-identity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Open\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Open\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Open\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Open\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Open\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Open\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Open\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85\/revisions\/94"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Open\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Open\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Open\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}