Make it POP, copycat! : How Behance may affect creativity among designers in Sweden and in which ways the usage of Behance may affest users' perception about their own graphical work.

Abstract: Humans have the fundamental need to communicate with others and the eruption of social network systems’ (SNSs) have made this easier since we are connected all the time. One SNS that is growing more popular among graphic designers is Behance and this platform, along with its effects is investigated in this paper. Prior research has shown that humans are perceived as creative creatures and possess the need to compare themselves to others. With the development of SNSs these behaviors have moved online, along with the effects on creativity. This study investigated how Behance may affect creativity among Swedish graphic designers, along with how the usage of Behance affects their perception about their own abilities and graphical work. With the use of a triangulation method, consisting of a quantitative online survey and three qualitative informant interviews empirical data was gathered. Afterwards, the data was analyzed and connected to previous research and theoretical framework. The result entails that Behance does affect creativity among graphic designers mostly positively and that designers perception may be influenced by Behance usage in both positive and negative ways. The conclusions are drawn upon our empirical data and two existing theories: the componential theory of creativity & the theory of social comparison. To research this subject further one might do a study with a bigger number of participants or a longer study where the researcher observes the users’ behaviour on the platform instead.