Thesis (BA Communication Arts) -- University of the Philippines Mindanao, June 2015

This research was conducted to investigate if there was a significant effect of Facebook friends? attractiveness on a Facebook profile owner. In a 2 (profile owners? physical attractiveness: attractive, unattractive) x3 (friends physical attractiveness : attractive, unattractive) repeated measures design, 180 female high school students between 15 and 17 years of age were randomly assigned to all of the twelve experimental conditions. Results revealed that the profile owner of a Facebook account was perceived as being more attractive when the profile includes attractive friends. The Facebook friends? attractiveness did not affect the perceived social attractiveness of the profile-owner, only the perceived physical attractiveness. This research on permission formation on Facebook suggests two broad strategies for managing the impressions found in this domain: (a) changing the level of privacy from the permeable default setting to a more private setting, such as only-me status; (b) limiting and/or cautiously accepting friends on Facebook; or (c) not acquiring a Facebook account. The first step forward improving impression management on Facebook is to further analyze the associated meanings of the communicated messages that an owner gives off with using Facebook. By better understanding the effect of Facebook friends on impression formation, individual users can take informed steps toward protecting their personal information and manage their self-presentation online.