Does Facebook’s interface employ narcissism to maximise usage? a critical comparison of the 2008 and 2015 facebook interfaces
Date
2016
Authors
Saunders, William
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Abstract
Facebook has become a part of over a billion people’s daily lives, but the mechanisms
used by Facebook to keep people using its service may be playing off negative personality
traits, one such being narcissism. Studies up to now have not looked at the design of the
interface in relation to narcissism and whether or not Facebook is actively exploiting
narcissism for its own ends. This study will analyse whether Facebook is deliberately
designing an interface that exploits people’s narcissism by reviewing the current research on
Facebook and narcissism and then doing a case study that will compare the 2008 interface
with the 2015 interface. It will analyse how narcissism is involved in the persuasion strategies
employed in each interface by using these four persuasion goals:
1. Create personal profile page
2. Invite friends
3. Respond to other’s contributions
4. Return to the site often
The study will compare the features that use design for behavioural change and show whether
or not Facebook is continuously designing features that exploit people’s narcissism.
Description
A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the field of Digital Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2016
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Citation
Saunders, William (2016) Does Facebook's interface employ narcissism to maximise usage?: a critical comparison of the 2008 and 2015 Facebook interfaces, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/21998>