LinkedIn as a platform: The pragmatic strategies of self-presentation and self-praise

Abstract

The employment of social networking sites (SNS) for self-presentation and self-praise is widespread throughout cultures; however, it has rarely been examined inside the Iranian environment. This study examined the pragmatic methods of self-presentation and self-praise to elucidate the underlying ideology of these tactics in social networking sites (SNS). Utilizing the qualitative analysis, the researchers identified 262 LinkedIn accounts to examine the mini-corpus of Iranian professional users. Drawing on MAXQDA, the researchers assigned distinct codes through content analysis, organized them into categories, and subsequently synthesized themes. The research indicated that Iranian users employ self-presentation and self-praise techniques to project an ideal image and promote the self. The results indicate that Iranian LinkedIn users employ speech acts to get recognition, affecting job recruiters. The study's implications for recruiters and employers to enhance their LinkedIn profiles and to be seen in their professions are discussed and elaborated on.

Keywords

• Social networking sites
• LinkedIn
• Self-praise tactics
• Self-presentation strategy
• Pragmatics
• Iranian users