Multilayered social media self-presentation practices: How German adolescents present themselves on Instagram and Snapchat
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Self-presentation plays a significant role during adolescence and is often performed on image-based social media platforms, such as Instagram and Snapchat. Our study examined common self-presentation practices and overarching forms of self-presentation among German adolescents as well as the influence of both individual (gender, social media use, perceived benefits) and structural influencing factors (audience size and anticipated feedback) on these forms of self-presentation. We conducted computer-assisted face-to-face surveys with 1,002 German Instagram and/or Snapchat users between 14 and 16 years of age. Our findings illustrate that adolescents present themselves through a variety of different practices on Instagram and Snapchat. We identified self-presentation practices that are common on both platforms, but we also found indications for platform-specific practices. Furthermore, principal component analysis identified three overarching forms of self-presentation: staged self-presentation, authentic self-presentation, and presentation of everyday life.
Source: Journal of Children and Media
Authors: Annika Wunderlich, Arne Freya Zillich
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Funder: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
OpenAlex ID: W4407184766