2.2. Procedure and materials
An online survey was created using Snap Survey Software. The
participants were informed that the survey would take no more
than 15 min. The first section of the survey consisted of a 16 items
assessing the type of profile photos that participants displayed.
Each item asked the subject to respond to a question (e.g., ‘‘Do
you usually post a profile picture?’’) on a ‘‘1’’ (Never) to ‘‘5’’ (Always)
scale. One item in this section (i.e., How often do you change
your profile picture?) was scored on a five-point scale ranging from
‘‘Never’’ to ‘‘Frequently.’’ Only participants who usually display
profile photos filled out this section of the survey; others were
asked to skip to the second portion of the survey. The second portion
of the survey consisted of 28 items that assessed how often
the individual engaged in various Facebook activities (e.g., ‘‘looking
at others’ photo albums’’) on a ‘‘1’’ (Never) to ‘‘5’’ (Always) scale.
Many of the items in this part of the scale were adapted from a
measure developed by Pempek et al. (2009). The third and final
section of the survey asked participants to supply information
about their country of origin, their age and sex, whether or not they
were college students, and their relationship status. They also estimated
the number of hours spent on Facebook in a typical week
and the number of Facebook friends that they currently had. Finally,
they expressed their level of agreement with the following three
statements on a five-point scale, ranging from Strongly Disagree
(1) to Strongly Agree (5):