Since I first became a member of the Linkedln online community, I had always been intrigued by the overall messaging and way people interact on the app.  I decided to use this curiousness to design a research experiment and figure out how Linkedln, who some would equate to an online version of a resume, causes changes in personality and online presence. Mainly, I focused on one overarching question: how people’s impression management on LinkedIn differs from other forms of social media?  Being an avid user myself, I can say with firsthand experience that the online world of Linkedln is extremely different than that of other social media platforms.  LinkedIn has been presented to the public, and thus understood to be a very professional site, so people created a set of agreed-upon social rules for how to act and communicate within the platform. 

But, do these rules cause people to push false versions of themselves? Surely that is a universal idea throughout all platforms, from Facebook to Instagram and Snapchat. My research shows that although LinkedIn is a ‘professionally’ regarded site, it does not escape the tendencies and trends that other social media platforms experience: people pushing curated stories and versions of selves that do not mirror what their personal lives are like.