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<p>In the digital era, social networking sites (SNS) provide both curated “frontstage” profiles and spontaneous “backstage” linguistic traces, yet how motivational orientations are reflected across these layers remains unclear. Using real-world data from 105 active young Chinese Sina Weibo users with their 27,647 original posts, this study examined how regulatory focus (promotion vs. prevention) manifests in structural profile features and Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC)-based linguistic patterns. Frontstage self-presentation was assessed through profile completeness and self-introduction length, while backstage tendencies were captured via five broad psycholinguistic domains. Logistic and hierarchical regression analyses revealed that frontstage cues only selectively differentiated motivational orientations: promotion-focused users disclosed more sensitive information and wrote longer self-introductions. In contrast, backstage linguistic features provided stronger predictive value. A composite factor reflecting cognitive–negative introspection negatively predicted promotion focus, indicating reduced use of introspective and negatively valenced terms. No linguistic indicators uniquely predicted prevention focus. These findings show that young Chinese Weibo users’ motivational orientations are more consistently expressed in spontaneous language than in curated profile design, highlighting the value of integrating multilayered behavioral signals to understand online self-presentation. These findings offer theoretical implications for personality inference and practical guidance for motivation-sensitive young Chinese SNS users’ privacy design.</p>

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Frontstage and backstage: how self-presentation and linguistic features reflect regulatory focus on Weibo

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年6月22日

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  • Zaoyi Sun,
  • Jie Dai

摘要

In the digital era, social networking sites (SNS) provide both curated “frontstage” profiles and spontaneous “backstage” linguistic traces, yet how motivational orientations are reflected across these layers remains unclear. Using real-world data from 105 active young Chinese Sina Weibo users with their 27,647 original posts, this study examined how regulatory focus (promotion vs. prevention) manifests in structural profile features and Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC)-based linguistic patterns. Frontstage self-presentation was assessed through profile completeness and self-introduction length, while backstage tendencies were captured via five broad psycholinguistic domains. Logistic and hierarchical regression analyses revealed that frontstage cues only selectively differentiated motivational orientations: promotion-focused users disclosed more sensitive information and wrote longer self-introductions. In contrast, backstage linguistic features provided stronger predictive value. A composite factor reflecting cognitive–negative introspection negatively predicted promotion focus, indicating reduced use of introspective and negatively valenced terms. No linguistic indicators uniquely predicted prevention focus. These findings show that young Chinese Weibo users’ motivational orientations are more consistently expressed in spontaneous language than in curated profile design, highlighting the value of integrating multilayered behavioral signals to understand online self-presentation. These findings offer theoretical implications for personality inference and practical guidance for motivation-sensitive young Chinese SNS users’ privacy design.