Does Facebook’s interface employ narcissism to maximise usage? a critical comparison of the 2008 and 2015 facebook interfaces

[摘要] Facebook has become a part of over a billion people’s daily lives, but the mechanismsused by Facebook to keep people using its service may be playing off negative personalitytraits, one such being narcissism. Studies up to now have not looked at the design of theinterface in relation to narcissism and whether or not Facebook is actively exploitingnarcissism for its own ends. This study will analyse whether Facebook is deliberatelydesigning an interface that exploits people’s narcissism by reviewing the current research onFacebook and narcissism and then doing a case study that will compare the 2008 interfacewith the 2015 interface. It will analyse how narcissism is involved in the persuasion strategiesemployed in each interface by using these four persuasion goals:1. Create personal profile page2. Invite friends3. Respond to other’s contributions4. Return to the site oftenThe study will compare the features that use design for behavioural change and show whetheror not Facebook is continuously designing features that exploit people’s narcissism.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand