Ego-networks, SNSs affordances, and personalities: understanding individuals’ selfie posting on SNSs based on Actor-Network Theory

The prevalence of smartphones and social networking sites (SNSs) has given rise to the popularity of selfie posting, presenting one’s own photograph on SNSs. While previous studies have mainly investigated the effects of personal characteristics (e.g. demographics, personality traits and motivational needs) on selfie posting, the impacts exerted by individuals’ social networks have been largely neglected. Drawing on the Actor-Network Theory, this study explores besides personal traits (i.e. personalities and demographics), how relational characteristics of one’s ego networks (i.e. gender heterogeneity, age homophily, average tie strength, and network density) and SNSs affordances (i.e. connectivity and interactivity) affect selfie posting behavior. Based on a survey sample in which the respondents’ ego network data were collected, individuals’ ego-network metrics were calculated and analyzed. Our analyses show that those whose ego network having a higher proportion of opposite sex (measured by gender heterogeneity) or/and having alters more connected with one another (measured by network density) are more likely to post selfie on SNSs, while those embedded in a strong-tie network (measured by average tie strength) are less likely to post selfie on SNSs. The findings suggest that characteristics of one’s ego network exert important influences on selfie posting on SNSs.