This research explores key issues people experience managing personal boundaries within and across social technologies. We look in particular at email and online social networks. We offer a theoretical framework for understanding the errors in assumptions about the singularity of identity that are currently inscribed into the sharing models of social technology systems. Through a questionnaire study we examine how people facet their identities and their lives, and how these facets are expressed through use of technology. We found for more mature users family was an extremely important context for sharing online, and that email was still a preferred form of communication for private sharing across facets of life. Single, working men had the highest level of incompatible facets, and a higher level of facet incompatibility was correlated with increased worry about sharing in the context of social networks.

1. Faceted Identity, Faceted Lives Social and Technical Issues in Being Yourself Online Sep.30.2010 Shelly D. Farnham, Ph.D. Yahoo! Elizabeth F. Churchill, Ph.D. Yahoo! Research http://www.flickr.com/photos/23045224@N04/2645051915/

2. Industry Research as Social Scientists Domain Communication, collaboration Social networks, groups, communities, mobile social Understanding users Individuals Pairs, groups, communities, networks Social engineering Technologies as interventions with social outcomes Use understanding of natural social processes to inform design

4. Increasingly, different social media sites are sharing and aggregating content

5. Implicit models of social organization in networks carry problematic assumptions: that one identity, and one social context, fits all3

6. Agenda Background Theoretical framework Related research Study Methodology Results Conclusions and Implications Yahoo! Presentation, Confidential 4

7. Social Identity Theory Identity exists on a spectrum, from personal to intergroup Social Identities are categories of identity to which one assigns oneself Social identities often associated with normative, socially accepted roles and behaviors Many authentic facets to self Yahoo! Presentation, Confidential 5 mom bride girlfriend professor

8. Boundary Theory Yahoo! Presentation, Confidential 6 Self and identity are negotiated around space and time to retain distinct categories of existence Some of these boundaries vary in permeability Nippert-Eng, (1995), Ashfort et al. (2000)

9. Boundary Theory Yahoo! Presentation, Confidential 7 Micro-transitions, managing life boundaries on a daily basis

10. Identity and Social Context:Two Sides of the Same Coin Behavior = Function (Person, Situation) Situation = where + when + what + who else Identity enactment depends on the audience Yahoo! Presentation, Confidential 8 Intimate relationship professional public social family

11. Not all Facets Compatible Role Strain A felt difficulty in meeting the norms of roles, e.g., if two roles are incompatible in the moment Behaviors appropriate to one role can negatively impact another Cognitive load in switching Yahoo! Presentation, Confidential 9 party animal colleague Numerous examples of people losing jobs because of Facebook content

12. Online: Flattened Identity Problem Flattened networks In real life, multiple identities, multiple networks Online, in most networks identity become flattened Facebook primarily “social” facet….? Created for socializing with friends, not family or work colleagues Yet, increasingly family and colleagues joining Facebook Shelly’s Facebook: Closefriends (52) Extendedfriends (62) Colleagues (55) Family (5) ArtandTechbuddy (24) Sfbuddy (8) Startupbuddy(4) Don’treallyknow (50) (boyd) (Boyd) 10

13. Personal/Work Boundaries in Facebook While some find value in seeing personal side of colleagues, most feel uncomfortable mixing personal/professional, especially where differences in status (Skeeps and Grudin, 2009) Majority of people in Facebook do not adapt to increasing number of professional connections (DiMicco & Millen, 07) Those that adapt, do so through: (Lampinen et al. 2009): More private communication Self-censoring problematic content Enacting a more “inclusive” identity Enact only professional identity 11

14. Questionnaire Study 12 Examine existing practices in identity and life faceting offline and online to inform design

15. Research Questions Do people meaningfully vary in how they facet their lives? What are common facets of identity? What facets tend to be incompatible? How do people use different technologies, in particular email vs. social networks, to support facets? How does fear of sharing across facets impact the use of various social technologies? 13

16. 14 Comparing Email vs. Networks Sharing Models Email Online Networks To: Jim, Joe, Bob To: Joe me To: Cupcake @yahoogroups.com From: me To: Joan friends friends of friends To: Kim, Carie, bob To: Mary whole network By Intimacy in Network By Shared Item high level of control, easily bounded no boundaries, easily overshare

17. Method Questionnaire study web-based questionnaire distributed online on the Yahoo! network over two weeks Participants 631 participants Recruitment requirements: In US, 18 and older 59% male, 41% female, mean age 50.4 (Note: US census estimated median age over 18 is 45) Completion rates Questionnaire had six pages total, each saved separately Participant included in final analysis if they completed at least first two pages of questionnaire Of those included, 86% completed entire questionnaire 15

18. General Social Tech Usage 70% go online for social tech more than once a day, 14% once a day, averaging 129 minutes per day 99% had email, 2.9 emails each, 56 minutes spent per day 67% had a FB account, 39 minutes spent per day 129 contacts, 57% real friends (as opposed to don’t really know them or know them through work) 9.2 mailing lists, 3.7 where know majority by name and face 16

19. Participation in Areas of Life 17 Family most prominent area of life Hobbies/interests compete with work/school Social life social/clubs not as important as we might have expected

20. Important Identities in Areas of Life 18 * Many political identities in other, suggesting should be a primary category

22. Relationship most correlated with family – for many people probably considered the same

24. Use technology for family, then hobbies/interests

25. Email and Facebook usage positively correlated (r = .33, p < .001)N = 408 N = 620

26. Faceted Identity 21 People vary in level of identity faceting Many users report high levels of faceted identity Mean: 4.3 63% 4 and over Questions, averaged: “I have parts of my life that are really very different from each other.” “In different situations with different people, I often act like very different persons.” “I prefer to keep different parts of my life separate.” “I have many different sides of me, and the side I show depends on the social situation.” (1 = not at all, and 7 = extremely so)

28. Mean: 2.9

29. 26% 4 and over

30. Correlated with identity faceting (r = .45, p < , .001)22

32. The more faceted, the more usage

35. Higher levels of worry in social networks

36. Level of worry correlates with level of facet incompatibility Worry Question: To what extent does worry about incompatible roles and identities prevent you from sharing using the following social technologies?

37. Themes in Open-ended Comments “social networks are very public only things that won't come back to haunt you should be posted in them, email is a bit more private and controllable” “I use email for personal, non-public communication. I assume anything on facebook or other social network is open to the public and not secure.” “Email is used to connect with people I already know and to talk to them privately. Social networks are like a virtual gathering with people who are friends, acquaintances and strangers.” 26 Privacy People use email for communications that need to be private

38. 27 Themes in Open-ended Comments Intimacy vs. Reach “E mail is for people you know, work, social life, church, friends, family, etc. Social networks are for strangers.” “E-mail for immediate family. Facebook for extended family” “Facebook is more to connect with acquaintances on a limited basis, but still being part of their life. E-mail is usually more in-depth and personal with closer friends and family.” People use email for inner social circles, social networks for outer social circles

39. 28 Themes in Open-ended Comments Maintaining Boundaries “When you post something to a social network, everyone can see it, whether it be a private or public profile, even then all of your "friends" can see it. I don't necessarily want every single person connected with me on Facebook to see one thing that maybe only a few of my real friends need to see. Or maybe I don't want my mom to see something that I did at work or with friends. Or maybe I don't want my boss or another co-worker to see my status when I called in "sick" to work.” “The difference for me is, that I am gay, so I try to keep family separate, co-workers separate from my gay family, as that is a private part of my life,who I am talking to shouldn't be a concern of anyone elses.” “[email] Can share different things with different people instead of sharing everything with everyone.” social networks not effective for maintaining boundaries

40. 29 Themes in Open-ended Comments Control “Behavior on Facebook is an issue - I don't want someone else's poor decisions to reflect on me just because I know them. On Facebook there are people I would avoid/ignore except they are friends of friends and it would be rude to do so.” “I would rather use email than social networks with people I don't know and for topics of a personal or private nature. Social networks are not 100% under my control, and might cause issues when hunting employment.” with social networks you are not in control

41. Implications People meaningfully vary in level of identity faceting The more faceted the identity, the more social technology usage, but also the more worry, especially with social networks Users effectively choose appropriate communication channels depending on boundary management needs As social media technologies increasingly adopt a social aggregation strategy, should provide tools for segmenting areas of life, especially work/family/social streams Overall, family needs to be a more prominent focus in designing social media 30

42. Understanding Within-Person Differences Yahoo! Presentation, Confidential 31 design for “intra-individual” life segmentation in addition to “extra-individual” segmentation The Average Person