Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 20, 2026

Creating Virtual-hand and Virtual-face Illusions to Investigate Self-representation
Published on: March 1, 2017
An Experimental Test of How Selfies Change Social Judgments on Facebook
Samuel Hardman Taylor1, Alexandra S Hinck1, Hajin Lim2
11 Department of Communication, Cornell University , Ithaca, New York.
Abstract:
Selfies are everywhere on social media. Research has focused only on who is posting selfies and has not addressed the audience members viewing selfies. This study aims to fill this gap by analyzing the judgments people make of selfies posted on Facebook. Using an online experiment, we test how including a selfie on a Facebook status update changes people's appraisals of narcissism, message appropriateness, and social attraction. We also consider how the valence and intimacy of the status update text interplay with the selfie to change social judgments. Participants rated posts with selfies as more narcissistic and inappropriate, and less socially attractive. Selfie evaluations also depended upon the valence and intimacy of the status update text. Gender of the selfie poster did not influence evaluation of posts. One implication from these results is that posting selfies on social media may lead to negative judgments about the poster.
More Related Videos
07:40Validation of a Psychosocial Intervention on Body Image in Older People: An Experimental Design
Published on: May 31, 2021
08:24The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies
Published on: August 25, 2023
Related Concept Videos
Social Foundations of Self III: Self-Evaluation
The Sense of Self: Reflected Self-Appraisal and Social Comparison
Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
The Looking Glass Self
Strategies of Self-Presentation II: Self-Verification
Facial Feedback Hypothesis