Connections, Self-Presentation, and Privacy in the Age of Social Media

YOUR NETWORKED WORLD

Stefanie Duguay, MSc.Oxford Internet Institute (Alum)Created Nov. 18, 2013

It proliferates the number of weak social ties in your network

This increases your ‘social capital’ – your ability to access: Novel information Resources

WHY USE SOCIAL MEDIA?

Photo courtesy of Arindam "mak" Ghosh

Connections are formed and fortified through: Self-presentation (e.g. profiles, status updates) Publicly displayed relationships with others (e.g. wall

posts, tagging in photos)

CONNECTING ON SOCIAL MEDIA

On sites like Facebook, your connections can be comprised of a wide array of family, friends, and acquaintances

This is very diff erent from in-person settings with a fixed audience

Many people are not even aware of all their connections – try NameGenWeb https://apps.facebook.com/namegenweb

WHO ARE YOUR CONNECTIONS?

Diffi culty with privacy settingsPersonal information that you may not share with all

your contactsLeads to context collapse

SOCIAL NETWORKING CHALLENGES

Photo courtesy of Martin Cathrae

A shift from protecting personal information to ‘controlling who knows what about you’ – privacy in context

Extremely diffi cult in environments with reduced contexts

But people still manage, how?

CHANGING PERCEPTIONS OF PRIVACY

Image courtesy of g4ll4is

People frequently post messages that only some of their connections will understand or notice

Academics call this ‘social steganography’ – hiding social messages in plain sight

It works because: Language is symbolic Sometimes people do mind

their own business – “civil inattention”

TARGETED MESSAGES

Photo courtesy of Jim Bauer

Facebook’s popularity is decreasing because users are starting to spread out their connections on diff erent social media sites

People are being more selective about who they add as connections

Facebook ≠Twitter ≠ Tumblr ≠ InstagramGrouping connections using site features (e.g. Lists

on Facebook) is getting easier

REBUILDING CONTEXT

Photo courtesy of Martin Pettitt

You can apply this knowledge to your own social networking by: Getting a better idea of what your networks look like Making sure that you are comfortable with the

overarching self-presentation displayed by your profile and online interactions

Giving privacy settings a shot, especially lists Knowing your audience for certain posts and tailoring

your messages to them Using different social media sites for different

purposes or social groups

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Social Networking Sites and Social CapitalEl l i son, N.B. , Ste infi eld , C. , & Lampe, C. (2007) . The benefi ts o f Facebook “f r iends” : Soc ia l capi ta l and co l lege students ’ use o f on l ine soc ia l network s i tes . Journa l o f Computer-Mediated Comunicat ion, 12 (4) , 1143-1168.Vi tak , J . , & E l l i son, N.B. (2012) . ‘There’s a network out there you might as wel l tap’ : Explor ing the benefi ts o f and barr iers to exchanging in format iona l and support -based resources on Facebook. New Media & Soc iety, 15 (2) , 243-259. PrivacyL iv ingstone, S . (2008) . Tak ing r isky opportuni t ies in youthfu l content creat ion: Teenagers ’ use o f soc ia l network ing s i tes for in t imacy, pr ivacy and se l f-express ion. New Media & Soc iety, 10 (3) , 393-411.Nissenbaum, H. (2009) . Pr ivacy in context : Technology, po l icy, and the integr i ty o f soc ia l l i fe . S tanford , CA: Stanford Univers i ty Press . Context Collapse & Reactionsboyd, d . (2011) . Soc ia l network s i tes as networked publ ics : Aff ordances, dynamics , and impl icat ions . In Z. Papachar iss i , A Networked Sel f : Ident i ty, Community, and Cul ture on Soc ia l Network S i tes (pp. 39-58) . New York : Rout ledge.boyd, d . , & Marwick , A. (2011) . Soc ia l s teganography: Pr ivacy in networked publ ics . In ternat iona l Communicat ion Assoc iat ion , (Boston, MA) . Retr ieved f rom http : / /www.danah.org/papers /2011/Steganography- ICAVers ion.pdfHogan, B. (2010) . The presentat ion o f the se l f in the age of soc ia l media : D is t inguish ing performances and exh ib i t ions on l ine. Bul let in o f Sc ience, Technology & Soc iety, 30 (6) , 377-386. Marwick , A. E . , & boyd, d . (2011) . I tweet honest ly , I tweet pass ionate ly: Twi t ter users , context co l lapse, and the imagined audience. New Media & Soc iety, 13 (1) , 114-133

RELATED RESEARCH & REFERENCES

THANK YOU!stefanieduguay.com@DugStef

QUESTIONS?

Note: The views expressed in this presentation are my own and are based on my research and the research referenced. My views do not reflect the views of my employer.