Intervento di Nicoletta Vittadini (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore) al convegno Social media: Transforming audiences (Londra 2-3 Settembre 2013)

1. Social Media - The Fourth Annual Transforming Audiences Conference. University of Westminister September 2-3 2013
Privacy and SNS: generational differences in
managing privacy and disclosure
Nicoletta Vittadini

2. Premises
“"the claim of individuals, groups,
or institutions to determine for
themselves when, how, and to
what extent information about
them is communicated to others”
(Westin, 1967, p. 7).
“The right to an inviolate
personality” Warren &
Brandeis 1890).
The right of the “immunity
from the judgment of
others’” for some aspects of
a person’s life (Johnson
1992: 272)
The right to define and
manage the hiding and
disclosure of personal
informations according to
the audience (Altman
1975). Privacy is ‘what’s left
after one subtracts…the
monitored (ndr through
SNS profiles), and the
searchable, from the
balance of social life’.
(Lessig 1998)

3. Premises
The concept and the meaning of
privacy changes according with
different cultures (and peer cultures)
(Dourish & Anderson 2006, Lewis 2008)
Which
contents are
“private”?
Which kind of space is
Facebook? Which benefit
do I have using it?
Users behaviours “balance” privacy and benefit of using Facebook

4. Premises
“Audiences”: public or private profiles
(Stutzman e Duffield 2010)
“Contents”: who can access a specific
content (“friends lists”)
“Sharing”: who can “use” personal
contents
“Context collapse”” (boyd
2008). “While social
convergence allows
information to be spread
more efficiently, this is not
always what people desire.
..control is lost with social
convergence”

5. A question
- Cultural unit: “a cohort of persons passing
through time who come to share a common
habitus, hexis and culture” (Eyerman and Turner
1998, 93).
- The management of disclosure and revelation of
personal information acquire 8especially in SNS)
the status of a collective ritual contribute in
building, the so-called “we sense” of generations.
Does “generational belonging” affect users
behaviours regarding privacy?

6. Empirical remarks
- 120 qualitative interviews in Italy
- People from 13 to 54 years old
- Topic: Online social relations and identity: Italian experience
in Social Network Sites
- Preliminary analysis of respondents living in Milan

7. General remarks
Facebook
user
user
user
Other
companies
informational privacy (DeCew
1997).
Protection of personal
informations regarding everyday
activities, economic status and
lifestyle.
User
User
User User
expressive privacy (Tufekci 2008)
Protection of the process of personal
identity building from third party’s
interference.
Control over information shared
about oneself (self reputation online)

8. General remarks
What is “private”?
Feelings. Expecially negative
feelings (as sadness)
Personal data and informations
(religion, political orientation)

9. General remarks
How can I manage it?
Contents
I don’t post about ….; I don’t
tag; I don’t geotag
Networks
I build my network in order to
express what I want on facebook
Facebook is a public space Facebook is a (crowded) party

10. Generations
Generations (in Italy)

11. Younger boomers “facebook is
a public space”
Privacy is managed “ex ante”:
• Some contents are off topic
• negative feelings as sadness are off
topic
• political orientation and personal
tastes are on topic
• Some people are off network
• colleagues
Isn’t a real concern:
I do not have the nightmare to be controlled and I have no reason to
worry if someone controls me (m 45-54).
I'm not posting personal things except the photos of my nephew’s
birthday. If someone uses that picture what should I do ? (f 45-54)
• “friends lists” are used in a very
simple way and only for specific
media as photos
• chat as a more intimate space
isn’t used
• tagging and geolocalization are
used and not controlled (very
low literacy)

12. Generation X “Facebook is an
entertainment”
Is a question of “identity” control:
I found a conversation with a picture of me that has nothing to do with
me ... I do not like that I can’t control it ... I have little chance to resize
things ...(f 35-44)
The control over one’s identity is “ex post” excluding people who
don’t respect the right of an “expressive privacy”
Privacy is managed through:
• Contents:
• Self-coherence "You decide what you post
... my account ... is very consistent with me
"(35-44 m)
• Emotions and personal feelings are off
topic
• Political orientation and personal tastes
and Everydaylife’s tale (also through
photos) are on topic
• Networks
• Colleagues are off network
• “friends lists” are perceived as
annoying and redundant
• chat as a more intimate space isn’t
used
• Tagging is used and allowed in some
cases after approvation
• Geotagging is perceived as intrusive
and a form of social-control and not
allowed

13. Generation Y “My life is on
Facebook”
Is a question of “context collapse” (especially about photos)
I have a lot of photo album and there are a lot of information about me.
There is a part of post very personal. So sometimes I read them and
think they are too personal. I set the privacy and block them (f 25-34)
• “friends lists” are used
• chat as a more intimate
space is sometimes used
• Tagging is controlled, used
according to the “unwritten
rules of the peer group” and
allowed after approvation
• Geotagging is used but
perceived as dangerous
Privacy is managed through:
• Networks
• Management of the content’s accessibility
• “Generational networks ”facebook belongs to our
generation” (f 25-34)
• Contents:
• Emotions (negative) and political orientation are off
topic
• Photos are “under control”
• Unwritten rules of the peer group
• Selective tagging according to the preferences of
friends
• Post with underlying meanings which can be
understood only by friends

14. Generation Z “Facebook is an
expressive tool”
Is a question of a gradient of intimacy
If one don’t want to let everybody know something, he can write it in
chat (f 13-18)
If I have to maintain a relationship I do it in private messages or chat (f.
19-24)
Privacy is managed through:
• Basic tools:
• Public or “only friends” profile
• Chat vs post
• “Ex post” activities
• Deleting photos, tags, contents
and comments which aren’t
coherent with one’s public image
• Complicity
• Sharing and posting contents with
underlying meanings
• “friends lists” arent used
• chat as a more intimate space is
the privacy tools
• Tagging is controlled, used
according to the “unwritten
rules of the peer group” and
allowed after approvation
• Geotagging is perceived as
dangerous but used

15. Conclusive remarks
Early
boomers
Media as a public
space
Privacy: social
control
Illiteracy
Generation
X
Media as an
entertainment
space
Privacy: identity
consistence
Partial literacy
Generation
Y
Media as a social
spce
Privacy: context
collapse control
Relevance of the
unwritten rules of
the network
Stratification of
“communication
styles”
Generation
Z
Media as a
performative
space
Privacy: control of
different levels of
self expression
Stratification of
“communication
styles”

16. Conclusive remarks
Control is a paradox
The paradox arises when control over the
publication of information (deciding what to
publish, when and to whom make it visible)
saturates the need to protect data and makes
less compelling and meaningful monitoring
them.
Friend’s lists are “annoying”
Managing friend’s lists clashes with the
complexity of social relations . ”There is
…tension between the desire for reliable
control over their information and the desire
for social interaction unplanned"
(Grimmelmann, 2008)
Except
for Gen
X

17. Conclusive remarks
Unwritten rules
(Peers network
Generational networks)
Software tools
Privacy is social: “social privacy” means that “once private
information is disclosed or others are granted access, the
information moves from individual ownership to collective
ownership. the original owner and co-owners coordinate the
management of information” (Child e Petronio, 2011)

18. Conclusive remarks
Privacy is a balance between:
- The benefit and the pelasure to share informations (disclosure)
- The control over personal informations (privacy)
Early Boomers:
public discussion
about personal
interests
Generation X:
the “edonic”
dimension of
building identity
tales
Generation Y :
the benefit of
sociality
Generation Z:
the benefit of self
expression and
performativity

19. 22-05-2013
Thank you!
Nicoletta Vittadini
nicoletta.vittadini@unicatt.it
@nicovitt