Not being yourself on Facebook may make you stressed

People who do not portray their true self on Facebook may have a greater stress level and feel less socially connected, a new study has warned.

Rachel Grieve and Jarrah Watkinson from University of Tasmania in Australia evaluated the psychosocial outcomes related to presenting one's true self on Facebook.

They assessed Facebook users' true and online personalities, degree of social connectedness, feelings of psychological wellbeing, depression, anxiety and stress.

Researchers found that people may express their true self more easily on Facebook than in person, and the more one's "Facebook self" differs from their true self, the greater their stress level and the less socially connected they tend to be.

For the study, 146 participants completed a personality assessment once as their true self and once as the self they present on Facebook (Facebook self), as well as measures of social connectedness, subjective well-being, depression, anxiety and stress.

Participants who reported feeling more able to express their true self on Facebook had a greater tendency to post personally revealing and emotional content and their motivations for posting on Facebook were more self-orientated, such as seeking attention from others, researchers said.

These findings are consistent with the theory of true self, where individuals express their true self to have that self-validated by those around them, they said.

The findings were published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behaviour and Social Networking.