Abstract
This research aims to develop an understanding of the impact of social networking sites on adolescent identity formation and self-esteem. It aims to explore whether different personality types, measured using the Ten Item Personality Inventory, will be found to vary in usage of social networking sites. User types will be defined as ‘basic users’ who use social networking sites for purposes such as interacting with others and knowledge acquisition, users who ‘seek positive affirmation’ through their online posts and users consistency between their online and offline personalities. Author keywords: Adolescents, social networking site, personality, self-esteem, dramaturgical model, Goffman, social compensation, social comparison, socialization
