Jinyoung Min<\/p>\n
Visiting Research Scholar<\/p>\n
Fox School of Business, Temple University<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
October 8, 2010<\/p>\n
Speakman Hall 200, 1000am – 1130am<\/p>\n
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Abstract<\/p>\n
As information technology (IT) continues to permeate everyday life experiences, it is no longer simply a tool to improve task performance; people use technology to present themselves and fulfill their inner desires. Yet, there are few studies examining this new aspect of information technology.<\/p>\n
To fill this gap in the literature, we propose the concept of self-presenting IT, a class of information technology whose primary purpose is to present users\u2019 self-image, either actual or possible. We consider two examples of self-presenting IT: blogs and social network sites (SNS). We propose that actual and possible self-presentations can be either strategic or expressive and further argue that strategic self-presentation appeals to a cognitive assessment of technology, while expressive self-presentation appeals to an affective process. Finally, we argue that people are more likely to use SNS for actual self-presentations and blogs for possible self-presentations.<\/p>\n
We test our theory using the data collected from 321 bloggers and 299 SNS users. Our findings reveal the separate roles of actual and possible self-presentation with blogs and SNS in influencing perceived usefulness and emotional attachment to IT. However, contrary to our expectation, perceived usefulness for self-presentation in isolation does not have a direct impact on a user\u2019s commitment to IT. Our results show simply improving perceived usefulness is not enough to sustain the use of self-presenting IT \u2013 we must make sure that individuals are emotionally attached to IT to in order to strengthen their commitment to the technology.<\/p>\n