Petter Bae Brandtzæg

Too Many Facebook “Friends”? Content Sharing and Sociability Versus the Need for Privacy in Social Network Sites

Little research has been conducted on the two most important criteria for the success of social network sites (SNS), that is, content sharing and sociability, and how these affect privacy experiences and usage behavior among SNS users. This article explores these issues by employing in-depth interviews and explorative usability tests, comparing the experiences and usage of younger and older Facebook users. First, the interviews revealed that Facebook users in all age groups reported more contact with several different groups of people, which reflects different types of social capital (i.e., family, friends, and acquaintances), because of Facebook, but not without consequences for privacy. Having too many Facebook “friends” and access to different social capital disrupt the sharing process due to experiences of social surveillance and social control. This social control often forces younger people in particular to use conformity as a strategy when sharing content to maintain their privacy. Further, the interviews revealed different motivations and usage patterns when older and younger users are compared. Second, the usability test found a significant difference between younger and older adults in time completion and task completion related to Facebook settings. Younger users are more skilled in their Facebook usage, whereas adults over the age of 40 have difficulties in understanding the navigation logic and privacy settings. Younger and older adults display completely open public profiles without realizing it. Finally, the design and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.

Why People Use Social Networking Sites

One of the recent popular social media platforms is the social networking site (SNS). Thus far, few previous studies have empirically investigated peoples motivations for SNS usage, especially not outside the U.S. This study combines a large-scale quantitative and qualitative research design, by asking 1,200 SNS users an open question regarding their reasons for using SNSs. An important conclusion drawn from a preliminary content analysis is that people often report many motivational reasons for using SNSs . The most important reason is to get in contact with new people (31%). The second most valued was to keep in touch with their friends (21%), whereas the third was general socializing (14%). A total of 11 different reasons and several sub-reasons were identified; that all give insight into the personal incentives that drive people to use SNSs and thus contribute to our understanding of how to develop successful social networking online.

Social Networking Sites: Their Users and Social Implications — A Longitudinal Study

The rapid adoption of social networking sites (SNSs) raises important questions about the social implications of such usage. Drawing on unique longitudinal data, surveying a representative sample of Norwegian online users (N = 2,000, age 15–75 years) in 3 annual waves (2008, 2009, and 2010), this study found a significantly higher score among SNS users in comparison to nonusers in 3 out of 4 social capital dimensions: face-to-face interactions, number of acquaintances, and bridging capital. However, SNS-users, and in particular males, reported more loneliness than nonusers. Furthermore, cluster analyses identified 5 distinct types of SNS users: Sporadics, Lurkers, Socializers, Debaters, and Advanced. Results indicate that Socializers report higher levels of social capital compared to other user types.

A typology of social networking sites users

Social networking sites (SNSs) are said to be new important means of participating, communicating, and gaining social capital. Thus, increasingly fragmented user population and user behaviours in SNSs make it important to achieve more knowledge about SNS users and their participation inequality. This article proposes a user typology for SNSs, which identifies and describes the variety of ways in which people use SNSs. An analysis of the survey data from 5,233 respondents in four major Norwegian SNSs showed five distinct user types: 1) sporadics; 2) lurkers; 3) socialisers; 4) debaters; 5) actives. Both quantitative and qualitative analysis validates the typology. The SNS user typology contributes to a more nuanced and precise measure of how future research should identify and predict SNS use and better understand participation inequality in SNSs. The identification of various user types indicates a 50-30-20 rule for participation in small and locally bounded online communities compared to the existing 90-9-1 rule. Finally, the results could help the design of SNSs in tailoring them to user type.

Co-creation and user-generated content-elderly people's user requirements

There is an increasing demand on citizens to participate in social network websites and to create and share their own user-generated content (UGC), such as photographs, videos, and blogs. So far, little is known about how elderly people respond to these new trends and master the techniques required. This paper reports on three studies that investigated elderly peoples user requirements related to consumption, sharing and co-creation of UGC in new media. The first study, conducted in Norway, identifies patterns of Internet usage, age differences, and participation in online communities and the consumption, sharing and co-creation of UGC on a macro level. The second study, conducted in Belgium, investigated the social requirements of elderly people on a group level. The third study, also conducted in Belgium, investigated user and context requirements on an individual level. The results of the first study show that the elderly rarely participate in online communities and share audio-visual UGC. However, they embrace some aspects of the new media and more often express themselves politically. The results of the second study show that the elderly are very motivated to contribute with UGC, given the right circumstances. The results of the third study show that it is important for elderly people that they be able to use the new technologies easily and identifies their worries about using them.

Children's usage of media technologies and psychosocial factors

Media use has changed considerably during the past five years and earlier research has produced contradictory results on how media use links to childrens psychosocial factors. This study charts the access to and use of several media technologies among 825 Norwegian schoolchildren between 10 and 12 years of age. The questionnaire contained items concerning childrens self-concept, parental monitoring and social competence. It found that children engage with different kind of media activities and some of these are significantly related to psychosocial factors, however, these correlations were in general quite small. Entertainment usage was associated with low scholastic competence. Both utility usage and heavy advanced usage of new media were related to self-perceptions of athletic competence. Low social acceptance was linked to Gameboy usage and advanced usage of media. Finally, there was a relationship between experienced parental monitoring and utility usage of media technology. The possible implications for these empirical relations are discussed.

Enjoyment: lessons from Karasek

What makes some experiences enjoyable, and other experiences not? How can we understand enjoyment in human factors design; what components should we consider when we are designing for enjoyment? This chapter explores a theoretical model for understanding the components and nature of enjoyment, and how HCI (Human Computer Interaction) professionals can use the model to predict and evaluate enjoyment. The model is a modified version of Robert Karasek’s well-known demand-control-support model used in work and organisational psychology (Karsek and Theorell in Healthy work: stress, productivity, and the reconstruction of working life. Basic Books, New York, 1990).

Bridging and bonding in social network sites – investigating family-based capital

This study explores the relationship between three distinct dimensions of social capital (bridging, peer-bonding and family-bonding capital) in social network sites (SNSs). We ask what kinds of social relations are sought by SNS users and whether the usage of new SNSs contributes to family bonding. A representative sample of the Norwegian internet population shows that 25% use SNSs to communicate with family members once a week or more often, but peer bonding is significantly more frequent (53%). Further, male users are significantly less interested in future family contacts in SNSs than females. Both online bridging and family bonding differ significantly between age groups. Answers to an open-ended question demonstrate a wish to strengthen relationships with friends and acquaintances in SNSs. Contact with family is not reported as a main motivation for using SNSs (1%), while other social relations account for 74% of the motivations. However, the results of the study indicate that the majority of the respondents experience SNSs as a part of their daily communication routines, both to bridge new online contacts and to strengthen bonds with their existing offline ties.

Ensuring Trust, Privacy, and Etiquette in Web 2.0 Applications

An analysis of three user studies of Web 2.0 applications reveals the most important requirements related to ethical issues. The development of features that support these requirements should be tailored to the type of application and specific community needs.

Norwegian Children's Experiences of Cyberbullying When Using Different Technological Platforms

Cyberbullying is an emerging threat to children in Europe. However, European research into this topic is scant and knowledge of it incomplete. In this study, “cyberbullying” involves the use of different technological platforms to support hostile behavior by an individual or group that harm others. The article examines whether childrens experience of cyberbullying differs according to technological platforms and socio-demographic variables. Results from two Norwegian studies show that cyberbullying most often occurs via e-mail, and that girls and frequent users of the internet are more likely to encounter cyberbullying. Most cyberbullying encountered in social networking sites was sexual and took place in communities in which the users are anonymous. This was most often encountered by teenage girls and perpetrated by adults.