Motives for Facebook use and expressing “true self” on the Internet

A survey on 143 university students was conducted to examine what motives young adults have for Facebook use, which of those motives were endorsed more than the others, and how those motives were related to the tendency of expressing one’s “true self” through Facebook use. According to the results, primary motive for Facebook use was to maintain long-distance relationships. This motive was followed by game-playing/entertainment, active forms of photo-related activities, organizing social activities, passive observations, establishing new friendships, and initiating and/or terminating romantic relationships. Another interesting result was that individuals’ tendency for expressing one’s true self on the Net had an influence on their Facebook use motives: The ones with high tendency to express their true self on the Internet reported to use Facebook for establishing new friendships and for initiating/terminating romantic relationships more than the individuals’ with low and medium levels of the same tendency did.

► We test 143 Facebook users’ primary motivation for linking on Facebook. ► Main motive is maintaining long-distance relationships. ► We measure respondents’ tendency to express one’s true self on the Net. ► This tendency is associated to some Facebook use motives.