TO USE OR NOT TO USE: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERSONALITY TRAITS AND INSTAGRAM USAGE

Abstract

Despite its social and economic relevance, Instagram and its users have rarely been in the focus of research so far. Specifically, who uses the platform how is not well understood so far. This study aims to close this research gap by investigating the relationship between personality traits and Instagram usage by conducting an online survey. Our results show that there is a positive relationship between extraversion and the number of followers and followings a user has. Furthermore, there is a negative relationship between conscientiousness and visit duration on the platform. Users with private profiles are higher in agreeableness compared to users with public profiles. Moreover, early users of Instagram are higher in extraversion and lower in neuroticism compared to users who joined the platform recently.