Fred Stutzman and Woodrow Hartzog, UNC-Chapel Hill This research explore the creations and use of multiple profiles on a social media site as a communication boundary regulation mechanism. Utilizing grounded methods to analyze twenty theoretically-derived, semi-structured interviews, we identified three methods of boundary regulation: Two or more profiles on one site, use of privacy mechanisms to create functionally different audience zones, and the use of different social media tools for different audiences. Three types of boundary regulation in social media were identified. The first type, pseudonymity, was comprised of individuals who kept their identities private and unlinked. Practical obscurity, the second type, covered a majority of individuals studied. Individuals who utilize practical obscurity did not necessarily engage in concealment of identity, but they did not actively link between identities. Finally, those utilizing transparent separations created multiple, interlined identities largely for utility purposes. Our analysis of boundary regulation behavior identified four motives: Privacy, identity, utility and propriety. We hypothesize that individual motivational emphasis may predict the type of boundary regulation adopted. Finally, we evaluate boundary regulation for self-reported measures of efficacy and burden. We find mixed results; Level of technical skill or understanding may mediate efficacy, and size of friend network may mediate perceptions of burden.

1. Boundary Regulation
in Social Media

2. (Lenhart 2009)

5. Context
Privacy
Disclosure
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

6. Managing Contexts
• Friendster
• “Burners, gay men
and bloggers”
• Myspace
• Teens and mirror
profiles
(boyd, 2006 & 2007) http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxgrrl/3676857198/
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

7. Managing Contexts
• Presence of multiple
social groups
• Behavioral
Strategies
• Mental Strategies
• “Least Common http://bit.ly/yS8yI
Denominator”
(Lampinen et. al., 2009)
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

8. Context Tension
• Connections across
status and power
boundaries
• Propriety, work/
family
• Inadvertent
disclosures leading
to harms
http://bit.ly/6HTDB
(Skeels and Grudin, 2009)
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

9. Conceptions of Privacy
• Privacy as selective control (Altman,
1975)
• Privacy as information practice
(Dourish & Anderson, 2006)
• Privacy as boundary management
(Petronio, 2002)
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

10. CPM
• Communications
Privacy Management
• Rule Development
• Boundary
Coordination
• Boundary
Turbulence
(Petronio, 2002)
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

13. Study Goals
• Why are motives for using multiple
profiles?
• What strategies to people employ in
managing multiple profiles?
• Is this an effective strategy?
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

14. Method
• Criteria: multiple profiles on one
social media site
• Twenty in-depth interviews, Summer
2009
• In-person/phone/Skype
• Analyzed using grounded theory
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

15. Respondents
• Six in their 20’s, Seven
in their 30’s, Six in their
40’s, and one was 57
• Twelve females, eight
males
• Respondents from US
(NC, VA, GA, CA, FL)
and UK
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

16. Motives
• Privacy
• Identity
• Utility
• Propriety
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gi/435888435/
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

17. Privacy
• Control of access to the self;
withdrawal from public domain
• Safety
• Confidentiality
“I know some young kids who tweeted ‘I’m
going to lunch at so and so’ and they came
back to their apartment and they had been
robbed...”
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

18. Privacy
• For many respondents, multiple
profiles:
• Functioned as shield, protecting
identifiable information
• Enabled content production
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

19. Identity
• Multiple profiles allowed for
establishment of distinct identities
(personal/professional)
[Created second Facebook profile so] “I
could be all about business” [On personal
profile] “could be a place where I have
opinions, where I express personal stuff.”
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

20. Utility
• Multiple profiles enable:
• Accomplishment of promotional and
collaborative goals
• Catering to specific audiences at
specific times
• Not having to apologize for off-topic
posts
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

21. Utility
• Segment volume of disclosure
• Offer differing information streams
(topic/interest)
“If somebody on my personal Twitter says
‘oh gosh you are inundating me with too
many updates,’ I will tell them that they can
follow my public profile that I update
substantially less”
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

22. Propriety
• Multiple profiles used to manage
conformity to norms and customs
• Befriending the boss or parent
[On the personal profile] “when my boss
pops up and Facebook tells me ‘we think
you should be friends,’ I don’t say yes
because she’s my boss.”
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

23. Forms of Regulation
• Multiple identities in a
single space
• Single account, highly
segmented privacy controls
• Segmentation by site
• Different social media for
different audiences
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

24. Axes of Regulation
• Regulation by
linkage
• Regulation by
concealment
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thosch66/270060125/
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

25. Linkages
• Links to the identity
"I have two different identities, I have a
personal one. [and] one geared towards my
professional stuff, there's not much
personal information there. But, I do have a
separate Flickr account, I have separate
Twitter accounts, I have separate Myspace
pages”
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

26. Linkages
• Regulation by linked interconnections
“But I don’t try and hide the fact that I’m
one or the other. You know in my [personal]
bio, I say something about [my business
twitter]. So its not like I’m trying to hide my
two different identities.”
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

27. Concealment
• Three genres identified
• Pseudonymity
• Practical Obscurity
• Obscure name variants, non-
disclosure of identity
• Transparent Separations
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

28. Concealment
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

29. Evaluation
• Do these techniques provide privacy?
“The thing going into it is I don’t put
anything out there that I wouldn’t want
everybody to know”
“I have to be careful about - that I say
something that's generic enough”
“I’m very conscious of the fact I am
basically speaking to an open mic”
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

30. Evaluation
• Is the process burdensome?
• High burden: Number of accounts
maintained, large number of
contacts
• High burden: Degree of linkage
disassociation
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

31. Evaluation
• Technical strategies
• Most participants reported
“bleedover”
• Segmenting by device
• Segmenting by time and location
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

32. Implications
• Multiple profile maintenance
consistent with the theoretical
provisions of Altman and Petronio
• Process reduces potential harms, and
encourages disclosures
• Represents a reaction to limitations
inherent in sites
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

33. Thank you!
Fred Stutzman:
fred.stutzman@unc.edu
@fstutzman
http://fredstutzman.com
Woodrow Hartzog
whartzog@email.unc.edu
@hartzog
http://ssrn.com/author=1107005
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

34. Axis of Linkages
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

35. Pseudonymity
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

36. Practical Obscurity
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu

37. Transparent Separations
Fred Stutzman, fred.stutzman@unc.edu