chi 2013: facebook limiting, leaving, and (re)lapsing

Limiting, Leaving, and (re)Lapsing An Exploration of Facebook Non-Use Practices & Experiences

CornellUniversity

NorthwesternUniversity CHI 2013 Paris, France

Kaiton WilliamsVictoria Schwanda SosikMadeline E. Smith

Eric P. S. Baumer Tony LiaoVera KhovanskayaPhil Adams

Non-Use of Technology

trestle.org.uk

•  Kline (2003)

•  Wyatt (2005)

•  Satchell & Dourish (2009)

Research Questions

RQ1: What is the prevalence of both actual Facebook nonuse and consideration of non-use?

RQ2: In what practices do Facebook non-users engage, and what is the prevalence of these various practices?

RQ3: What motivations are used to justify, and what experiences surround, Facebook non-use?

Do you currently have a Facebook account? Yes (I have an active account or an account that has been deactivated) No (I have permanently deleted my account, or have never had a FB account)

Have you ever considered permanently deleting your Facebook account 1 (No, I would never consider it) 2 3 4 5 (Yes, I think about it all the time)

How happy were you with your decision to permanently delete your account?

Very unhappy Somewhat unhappy Ambivalent Somewhat happy Very happy

Data Collection & Analysis

Data Collection & Analysis

Please describe a time that you questioned your choice not to have a Facebook account or felt pressured to sign up for an account.

Please describe the time that you deleted your Facebook account, how you decided to do it, and what happened afterward.

Please describe a time that made you consider deactivating or deleting your account and why you eventually chose not to.

Please tell a story about when you or someone you know either left Facebook or systematically limited their Facebook use.

http://hdl.handle.net/1813/30908

Profile of Respondents

• 410 respondents o  199 female, 160 male, 4 other (47 no response) o  19 to 76 years old; mean=35 (48 no response)

Resisting

Male, 42 years UX Designer

I'm a non conformist. I was never interested by it. It is a passive way of keeping making friends. Now that people can friend company's [sic], I feel my choice was right. I abhor commercialism.

• 75 respondents

Leaving

Female, 49 years Academic Researcher

I tried to permanently close my account but apparently I only deactivated it. This survey has made me aware that there is another procedure to remove my account permanently, although I doubt whether I will be able to find it since I looked for this before!

• 127 respondents

noelgreen.com

palmpartners.com

(re)Lapsing

Female, 31 years PhD Candidate

I deleted my account permanently in May 2010. However, when I went to India to do fieldwork, I found that I couldn’t avoid facebook and do my participation so I have a researchcontacts only account.

Female, 25 years Student

I deactivated 2 or 3 times during my finals. I used to get distracted during the final week. I was happy to get back afterward.

• 59 respondents

wallpaperstock.net

(Systematic) Limiting

Female, 39 years Postdoctoral Fellow

“I was writing my dissertation and found FB to be my number one distraction. I had my husband change my password and he’d log me on once a week or so as a treat.

• 64 respondents

Interpretive Themes

•  Banality •  Productivity •  Privacy •  Data Use and Misuse •  Social and Institutional Pressures •  Addiction, Withdrawal, and Envy

Interpretive Themes

•  Banality •  Productivity •  Privacy •  Data Use and Misuse •  Social and Institutional Pressures •  Addiction, Withdrawal, and Envy

Data Use and Misuse

Male, 40 years Writer

Facebook started adding more insidious methods of stealing user data located on personal computers (rather than uploaded to the site).

Female, 31 years Graduate Student

I want to limit the amount of information I disclose about myself and 'hand over' to corporations who profit from this at the expense of my privacy.

Mashable.com

Social and Institutional Pressures

Female, 42 years Web Designer

I had an ex boyfriend and his ex wife harassing me via facebook msg. Around the same time, I had a couple of dates and a guy started stalking me and asking me to friend him. It was then I decided to deactivate my account.

Eatreadpraydate.wordpress.com

Social and Institutional Pressures

Male, 32 years Postdoctoral Fellow

I teach students. There were times when I thought it might be better that my personal infromation will be less accessible to them.

Male, 30 years PhD Student

Unfortunately deactivating my account is not possible right now, because I need it for my professional life, for example when being an organizer for a big conference or networking with other researchers.

Fastcompany.com

Addiction, Withdrawal, and Envy

Male, 28 years Post-doc

Afterward I went through facebook withdrawal. I would be sitting at my computer and feel the need to login to facebook [...]

Female, 36 years University Professor

A friend from gradschool very abruptly sent a status update that he was leaving and the next day deleted his account. I wish I had the nerve to do the same.

Socialmediagroup.com

Kaiton Williams will miss youVictoria S. Sosik will miss youMadeline E. Smith will miss you

Eric P. S. Baumer will miss you Tony Liao will miss youVera Khovanskaya will miss youPhil Adams will miss you

Your one billion friends will no longer be able to keep in touch with you.

Are you sure you want to deactivate your account?Deactivating your account will disable your profile and remove your name and picture from most things you've shared on Facebook. Some information may still be visible to others, such as your name in their friends list and messages you sent.

Search for people. places and things

Deproblematizing the Non-User

• Non-use is meaningful in itself

• Instead of lagging adoption, we saw lagging resistance

karliemacbradshaw.com

Thank you!

kow2@cornell.edu

Kaiton Williams

vls48@cornell.edu

Victoria Schwanda Sosik

madsesmith@u.northwestern.edu

Madeline E. Smith

cl566@cornell.edu

Tony Liao

vdk9@cornell.edu

Vera Khovanskaya

pja22@cornell.edu

Phil Adams

ericpsb@cornell.edu

Eric P. S. Baumer

DGE-1144153 & DGE-0824162 http://hdl.handle.net/1813/30908