Making Sense of Social Network Sites

Fred StutzmanUNC School of Information and Library Science

Making Sense of Social Network Sites

Privacy

Identity

Adoption

Use

2005-Present

300 Million Users180 Countries70 Translations70% International

(Lenhart 2009)

Pew Internet and American Life Project

46% Americans use SNS65% Teens 12-1773% Adult SNS users have FB Account

http://bit.ly/32xwPF

(InsideFacebook.com, 2009)

Value?

http://bit.ly/Soi27

Social Ties

Offline to Online

http://bit.ly/1eaqGm

Support

http://bit.ly/1wH6ax

Participation

http://bit.ly/1V6gRB

Challenges?

Privacy

ContextPrivacy

Disclosure

(Lampinen et. al., 2009)

http://bit.ly/yS8yI

Managing Contexts

• Presence of multiple social groups

• Behavioral Strategies

• Mental Strategies

• “Least Common Denominator”

(Lampinen et. al., 2009)

http://bit.ly/yS8yI

(Skeels and Grudin, 2009)

http://bit.ly/6HTDB

Context Tension• Connections across

status and power boundaries

• Propriety, work/family

• Inadvertent disclosures leading to harms

(Skeels and Grudin, 2009)

http://bit.ly/6HTDB

Two Studies

Fred Stutzman, [email protected]

Study Goals

• Why are motives for using multiple profiles?

• What strategies to people employ in managing multiple profiles?

• Is this an effective strategy?

Fred Stutzman, [email protected]

Motives

•Privacy

•Identity

•Utility

•Proprietyhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/gi/435888435/

Fred Stutzman, [email protected]

Forms of Regulation

• Multiple identities in a single space

• Single account, highly segmented privacy controls

• Segmentation by site

• Different social media for different audiences

Fred Stutzman, [email protected]

Concealment

• Three genres identified

• Pseudonymity

• Practical Obscurity

• Obscure name variants, non-disclosure of identity

• Transparent Separations

Going Friends Only

Friend Network

• No Steps Significant

• People with less friends were less likely to go friends-only (411 vs 500, p=.003)

Fred Stutzman, [email protected]

Expectancy Violations

Discursive Privacy• Active Privacy

• Deleted a wall post left on someone else’s wall, Deleted a wall post someone left on your wall (α=.73)

• Conversant Privacy

• Advised someone to change their FB profile, Changed FB profile based on advice, Asked someone to make private a FB photo containing your image,Asked someone to completely remove FB image (α=.69)

Directions

Fred Stutzman, [email protected]

Participants

• 15 participants, two in 40’s, six in 50’s, seven in 60’s, nine females and six males

• Semi-structured interviews, in-person and by phone

• TOLA (Transitional, Older, Late Adopting Users)

Fred Stutzman, [email protected]

Framework

• Adoption, Experience

• Audience, Connections, Motivation

• Social Support

• Privacy

Fred Stutzman, [email protected]

Adoption• Reconnection drives adoption and use

• Real names the norm, searching important

• Reconstruction of the life story

“[In Facebook] I will click on one of my friends and I will see two other people that I have not heard from in years and be able to get in touch with them and I think it’s a great thing for that.”

Fred Stutzman, [email protected]

Connections

• Networks are close; small in size

• Attention focused on “important” others

• Reconnections, old crushes

• Observing the extended family

• Attention shifts; the “dance” of reconnection

Fred Stutzman, [email protected]

Contexts

• Family, friends, reconnections and co-workers main cited contexts

• The “time gap” as unique boundary

• Lack of common ground

• Shifting norms and identities

• Bridging “different lives”

Fred Stutzman, [email protected]

Support• SNS is a supportive place

• Emotional and informational support provisioned most commonly

“One of my nieces’ parents has been rather ill, and people have been just giving her messages of support. She’s someone who is regularly on Facebook and talking about her mother’s condition and the surgeries she’s had, and people were voicing support for how she was doing.”

Fred Stutzman, [email protected]

Asking for support?

• SNS is not a place where the sample goes for support

• Privacy; Multiple groups; Compromising disclosures

• Established modes for connection with supportive others

Fred Stutzman, [email protected]

Reciprocity• SNS is full of supportive givers; fewer

“askers”

• Users are willing to mobilize

“In other words posting on the Wall where all of my friends can see it – everyone on my friends list can see it – I would not do that. And that is because of this mix of people, different kinds of relationships.”

Implications

Transitions

http://bit.ly/34H8uY

InformationGrounds

http://bit.ly/3LMJXF

Mobile

http://bit.ly/2iEmDa

Fred Stutzman, [email protected]

Thank you!

Fred Stutzman: [email protected] @fstutzmanhttp://fredstutzman.com