2017 International Conference on Social Media & Society (#SMSociety)

Authors: Elliot Panek, Connor Hollenbach, Jinjie Yang and Tyler Rhodes

Abstract: The online communities of Reddit provide an ideal testing ground for determining the ways in which growth affect communities. By analyzing comments made on Reddit between 2008 and 2016, we demonstrate that Reddit consists of multiple communities growing at different rates. In several cases, community size is associated with greater inequality of participation in discourse, supporting the notion that members of online communities become less interactive and more passive as communities grow. However, one community, r/TwoXChromosomes, exhibits increasing equality of participation in discourse as it grows.

Authors: Zhiying Yue, Zena Toh and Michael Stefanone

Abstract: Although there is growing research on selfie-related behavior via social media, many questions remain about the relationship between traditional mass media and nature of selfies, their function in relationship maintenance, and a range of individual characteristics that may better explain taking and sharing digital images of one’s self. In this study, we explicate specific dimensions of the selfie, and evaluate a range of individual differences to explain taking and sharing behavior. Results show that the appearance-based contingency of self-worth explains individual focus on image and selfies. In addition, Snapchat is a significantly more popular platform for sharing selfies, opposed to Facebook. Surprisingly, male participants take and share more selfies, compared to females. Results are discussed in terms of online self-disclosure, and suggestions for future research are offered.

Authors: L. Y. C. Wong and Jacquelyn Burkell

Abstract: Social media have become an important part of everyday communication and a mechanism for sharing and ‘re-sharing’ of information. We discover news through our social network and pass along what we deem relevant to others. Numerous studies focus on the sharing of personal information (both online and offline) but less research examines news sharing practices — especially via social media. Understanding why we choose to share news and non-personal content online is vital in a world where, more and more, we turn to social media and our online social networks for news and information about the world around us. This research explores factors that influence our decision to share and re-share non-personal content with others in an online environment, specifically the choices we make when we share news.

Authors: Zoetanya Sujon and Lisette Johnston

Abstract: This paper seeks to address the tension between privacy and sharing culture. Despite many claims that privacy is dead, research suggests that there is a shift from privacy as an individualized right based around control to something more social, more embedded, more public and more networked. Drawing from 7 media diaries, interviews with those diarists and a survey (N=270) of London, UK residents aged 18-36, we aim for a better picture of privacy and sharing culture as lived experiences. Based on this evidence, we identify a number of themes. First, although respondents identify sharing as embedded and networked, their experiences and understanding of privacy remains more traditional. For most, privacy is an individualized right focused on control. In addition, we find several themes emerging from the data – privacy matters, particularly social privacy; respondents commonly use a kind of public persona on social media profiles; and respondents exercise sharing strategies in part to protect their privacy, but also for managing the sharing expectations of their social media use.