Checking out a stranger’s Facebook profile before physically meeting them increases arousal during the initial face-to-face encounter, especially among socially anxious individuals, according to research published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.
“The current tendency for people to use Facebook to ‘lurk’ (or ‘creep’) on other people’s profiles raises the question of what such activities do to change later face-to-face interactions, particularly among the socially anxious,” Shannon Rauch of Benedictine University in Arizona and her colleagues wrote in their study.
In the study, the researchers evaluated 26 female undergraduate students for their level of social anxiety. The participants were then exposed to a person via Facebook, a face-to-face encounter, or both. During the exposures the researchers measured physiological arousal using the galvanic skin response measure.
The participants were told the study was about facial recognition.
Rauch and her colleagues found increased physiological arousal among the participants who were exposed to a person via Facebook and then meet them in a face-to-face encounter.
“Facebook, in fact, may have adverse effects, especially for those higher in social anxiety,” the researchers wrote in the study. “Facebook may prime self-presentation and social comparison concerns that would lead to heightened arousal when the stimulus person is present.”
“Alternatively, the change from Facebook to real life may have led to arousal because the socially anxious participants preferred the relative safety of Facebook and felt agitated when the switch was made,” they added. “This interpretation is consistent with research that has found that social anxiety relates to a preference for online over face-to-face interactions.”
Creeping on another person’s profile before meeting them is not a wise strategy for socially anxious individuals, the findings suggest.
“Whether it is a priming effect or an unwelcome stimulus change, the implication for socially anxious Facebook users is the same: initial Facebook exposure may not serve a protective function during a subsequent live exposure, but may lead to an increase in negative arousal.”
