The alcohol self-presentation model: Using thematic qualitative analysis to elucidate how college students self-present via alcohol-related social media posts.

Our model delineated the alcohol self-presentations which allowed participants to demonstrate disparate versions of themselves to certain social media audiences. Our results illuminated that what people identify as being alcohol-related content, and what motivates the individual to post alcohol-related content, are essential to better comprehending how their alcohol-related content uniquely contributes to their drinking. Understanding students' alcohol self-presentations is important since their alcohol-related content may be putting themselves, and others, at-risk by perpetuating patterns of frequent posting and heavy drinking within the network. Our model may inform future behavioural interventions targeting the reduction of drinking among young people who are active on social media.