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With the growth of social networking sites, content published by social networking users has begged the question: what is it about social networking sites that make users feel so comfortable to do so?The psychology behind users’ actions is vast, but a lot of their actions derive from the establishment of their “online identity,” says Lauren Arena M.A., a psychological services intern who has paid attention to this issue.

“Teenagers are designing their own web pages, writing their own blogs,” said Arena. “It becomes some sort of presentation of who they are.”

For PCC student and social networking user, Hilary Bremner, disclosing only relevant information she wants out is the hardest task.

“The hardest part about putting together a profile would be what I want people to know,” Bremner said. “What’s relevant, I guess. And it’s also if whether or not I should be putting that much information online.”

In addition to adding information, users also upload pictures. In order to generate the views and the comments, there are certain measures that need to be done.

Annett Delgado, student and Facebook user, admits that though it’s not really important, she posts the better pictures out of the bunch.

“I literally don’t care,” Delgado said. “I post all the pictures I have. Well, at least the decent ones.”

But according to Arena, some students will go to lengths in order to present a more better them.

The term, “MySpace Angle” should ring a bell with some users. With a camera-mounted overhead, the angle can distort body shapes and improve facial expressions. And if the camera can’t fix certain spots or factor, there’s a technological breakthrough.

“Teens can use Photoshop for acne for example so that they can present what they would want to look like,” Arena said.

In addition, pictures that are borderline risqué are also top choices for default pictures.

In an article written for the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, researchers stated, “the internet may be utilized as a tool for gender and sexual exploration in ways not possible offline.”

And what better way to explore sexuality than in the comfort of your own home through the Internet?

Young females in particular use their sexuality to their advantage. Subsequently, the attention that they garner can motivate demeaning opinions from friends and strangers as well.

“Women want to have some sort of balance and be seen as friendly, well-liked, and attractive,” Arena said.

“But sometimes what they put on their sites end up backfiring on them and they can get negative feedback and be called things like slut, for example.”

“I have been called many names but like I said I can care less what people say,” Delgado said. “It’s like if they don’t matter to me then why should I care. In reality no one is forcing them to go on my page and look at my stuff. They willingly do it themselves.”

In addition to posting pictures of oneself, negative anonymous feedback of such content also has a psychology of its own. Enter Cyber bullying.

“Cyber bullying is somewhat like being in a car,” Arena said. “You have these people who are honking like crazy because they think they’re secure because they’re enclosed. But would they have that same reaction if they were out in the open?”

PCC student, AJ O’Day, has his own page on a popular blog site, Tumblr. In conjunction, he uses Formspring, a tool that connects readers to the blogger via question and answer.

O’Day has been flustered with hate comments as well as offensive comments on his Formspring and believes that the people who are doing this are way too comfortable behind their monitors, using a veil of anonymity as their saving grace.

“It’s because they don’t have the balls to say it to the person’s face,” O’Day said. “The ones who insult feel that they can be big and bad and say all these nasty things because they are not in their presence.”

According to stopcyberbullying.org, the reasoning behind online bashing is diverse. Some students participate in it as a form of revenge while others boast their ego and power over those they find inferior.

With over 100 million users on Facebook alone, it is obvious that users need to be more responsible for the material they post.

“A lot of teens aren’t aware of the consequences they can face because of the things they post up,” Arena said.

“The effects are there and they will definitely grow.

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