Face It - Book-ing results based on low sample sizes

A site that claims more than 500 million users. A Researcher who analyzes 100 users. A conclusion that is news-friendly.

'Facebook users have low self-esteem' - The Times of India: "TORONTO: Facebook is used mostly by narcissists and those with low self-esteem, says a Canadian study.

These type of people use Facebook as a self-promotional tool, says psychology researcher Soraya Mehdizadeh of York University.

Mehdizadeh, who extensively examined the online habits and personalities of 100 Facebook users aged 18 to 25 years old, found that individuals higher in narcissism and lower in self-esteem spent more time on the site and filled their pages with more self-promotional content.

'We all know people like this. They are updating their status every five minutes and the photos they post are very carefully construed,' she says.

'The question is, are these really accurate representations of the individual or are they merely a projection of who the individual wants to be?'

Mehdizadeh says she was struck by the fact that those with lower self-esteem were more apt to use this social networking tool. As part of her research, she examined five features of participants' Facebook pages for self-promotion: the 'about me' section, the main photo, the first 20 pictures on the 'view photos of me' section, notes, and status updates."