Behind the Curtains of Privacy Calculus on Social Networking Sites: The Study of Germany and the USA

As social networking sites (SNSs) become increasingly global, the issues of cultural differences in participation patterns become acute. However, current research offers only limited insights into the role of culture behind SNS usage. Aiming to fill this gap, this study adopts a ‘privacy calculus’ perspective to study the differences between German and American SNS users. Results of structural equation modeling and multi-group analysis reveal distinct variability in the cognitive patterns of American and German subjects. We contribute to the theory by rejecting the universal nature of privacy-calculus processes. From a practical standpoint, our results signal that SNS providers cannot rely on the “proven” means in ensuring user participation when crossing geographic boundaries. When financial means are limited, SNS providers should direct their investments into enhancing platform enjoyment and granting users with more control and, paradoxically, lobbying for more legalistic safeguards of user privacy

Salford postgraduate annual research conference (SPARC) 2012 proceedings

These proceedings bring together a selection of papers from the 2012 Salford Postgraduate Annual Research Conference (SPARC). They reflect the breadth and diversity of research interests showcased at the conference, at which over 130 researchers from Salford, the North West and other UK universities presented their work. 21 papers are collated here from the humanities, arts, social sciences, health, engineering, environment and life sciences, built environment and business

Who does it best? Towards understanding virtual accountability practices in public, nonprofit and private organizations

The primary purpose of this dissertation is to comparatively review virtual accountability practices in public, private and nonprofit organizations, using the hospital industry as a case of analysis. Through the quantitative assessment of organizational websites, this study provides empirical evidence that there are statistically significant differences in how organizations conduct their virtual accountability practices. Nonprofits are leading the way in their overall virtual accountability practices. They are more likely to score higher on engagement, performance and mission dimensions of virtual accountability practices. Private organizations have the lowest scores on every dimension, except for accessibility. Public organizations have the strongest scores within the governance dimension. The secondary purpose of this dissertation is to determine which organizational characteristics contribute to greater organizational accountability in virtual space. My findings suggest that the two best predictors for overall virtual accountability practices are the private sector ownership and the hospital volume, measured through the number of annual admissions

Dating in the dark: a phenomenological study of the lived experience of online relationships

Online relationships are becoming increasingly popular due to the availability, accessibility, and affordability of online social networking and dating sites. Individuals are progressively moving from meeting romantic partners face to face to meeting and engaging with individuals online. There is ample evidence to support the view that individuals do initiate romantic relationships online and often these relationships progress offline. The primary focus of online research had been conducted by communication and linguistic scholars while very little research has been conducted into the psychological conceptualisation of online relationships. In addition, there is a lack of available research pertaining to the development of romantic relationships online and more so in South Africa. The current study utilised Sternberg’s Triangular model of love and the Johari window as a framework for understanding the concepts involved in online romantic relationships. The study specifically aimed to explore and describe the lived experiences of individuals who engage in online dating. The parameters of the study included the elements that comprise the online relationship, the subjective meaning attached to the relationships, and the processes these relationships encompass. The study moreover aimed to explore the progression of the online relationship. The study used a qualitative, phenomenological approach using snowball sampling and semi structured interviews to collect data. Tesch’s model of content analysis was used during data analysis while incorporating the four major processes in phenomenological research, namely (1) epoche, (2) phenomenological reduction, (3) imaginative variation and, (4) synthesis. The findings of the study generated a greater understanding of the complexities of online dating. Themes including online relationship development, the dynamics of online relationships, how love, according to the triangular model of love, is perceived online and, self-disclosure online were identified through the participants narratives. These findings ultimately can be used for future research

Effective online privacy mechanisms with persuasive communication

This thesis contributes to research by taking a social psychological perspective to managing privacy online. The thesis proposes to support the effort to form a mental model that is required to evaluate a context with regards to privacy attitudes or to ease the effort by biasing activation of privacy attitudes. Privacy being a behavioural concept, the human-computer interaction design plays a major role in supporting and contributing to end users’ ability to manage their privacy online. However, unless privacy attitudes are activated or made accessible, end users’ behaviour would not necessarily match their attitudes. This perspective contributes to explaining why online privacy mechanisms have long been found to be in-effective. Privacy academics and practitioners are queried for their opinions on aspects of usable privacy designs. Evaluation of existing privacy mechanisms (social network service, internet browsers privacy tabs and E-Commerce websites) for privacy experts’ requirements reveals that the privacy mechanisms do not provide for the social psychological processes of privacy management. This is determined through communication breakdowns within the interaction design and the lack of privacy disclosure dialectical tension, lack of disclosure context and visibility of privacy means. The thesis taps into established research in social psychology related to the attitude behaviour relationship. It proposes persuasive communication to support the privacy management process that is to enable end user control of their privacy while ensuring typical usability criteria such as minimum effort and ease of use. An experimental user study within an E-Commerce context provides evidence that in the presence of persuasive triggers that support the disclosure and privacy dialectic within a context of disclosure; end users can engage in privacy behaviour that match their privacy concerns. Reminders for privacy actions with a message that is personally relevant or has a privacy argument result in significantly more privacy behaviour than a simple reminder. However, reminders with an attractive source that is not linked with privacy can distract end users from privacy behaviour such that the observed response is similar to the simple reminder. This finding is significant for the research space since it supports the use of persuasive communication within human-computer interaction of privacy designs as a powerful tool in enabling attitude activation and accessibility such that cognitive evaluation of an attitude object can be unleashed and end users can have a higher likelihood of responding with privacy behaviour. It also supports the view that privacy designs that do not consider their interaction with privacy attitudes or their influence on behaviour can turn out to be in-effective although found to support the typical usability criteria. More research into the social-psychological aspects of online privacy management would be beneficial to the research space. Further research could determine the strength of activated or accessed privacy attitude caused by particular persuasive triggers and the extent of privacy behaviour. Longitudinal studies could also be useful to better understand online privacy behaviour and help designs of more effective and usable online privacy

“We Can Be Pioneers” : Exploring experimental knowledge sharing in an online peer-support forum for non-offending pedophiles

Online peer-support forums can enable those alienated from society to engage in experimental knowledge sharing practices in the absence of professional and public interaction. This, in turn, helps them manage problems in new ways. However, for pedophiles, it is unsure when peer-support help forum users cope in healthy ways, and when they justify harmful behaviors. The article argues, that exploring the potentials of peer-support forums for pedophiles to help combat child sexual abuse, this produces an analytical challenge to represent the users’ experimental knowledge sharing practices without tying them to the very categories they try to escape. To accommodate this challenge, the article proposes to view these practices as politically contingent experiments rather than fixed results, and uses Donna Haraway’s concept of situated knowledge to do so. Based on a grounded theory analysis of an observational and ethnographic fieldwork on the Virtuous Pedophiles online peer-support forum for non-offending pedophiles, the article proceeds to analyzes relations and networks between the users’ personal experiences and the political situation that surrounds. The results are discussed in relation to classical frameworks of experiments in STS. Finally, experimenting as a mode of practice and analytical tool is argued to contribute to child sexual abuse prevention research, due to its attention to performances, resistances, and constraints, important to understand the challenges of being a non-offending pedophile.&nbsp

I BUY YOUR PRODUCT WHEN I FEEL I KNOW YOU: USING BLOG DISCLOSURE TO INFLUENCE CONSUMERS

Whilst confidence in certain companies has fallen as a result of the feeling amongst consumers that their private life has been violated, it would seem that at the same time, consumers are very eager to know more about the private life of the bloggers they follow. In return, bloggers are revealing more and more about themselves and displaying their private lives on their blogs. We show that the role of disclosure is a key determinant in consumer persuasion and that the exposure by bloggers of their private lives has a positive influence on their visitors. A quantitative study made of fashion and beauty blog enabled us to assess the impact of such disclosure on confidence in the blog, attitude towards the blog and the brand, and on the various routes to persuasion observed. The managerial implications of this research are presented in conclusion to help managers choose relevant blogs

A Practical Response to Ableism in Leadership in UK Higher Education

This chapter is based on research undertaken for the Leadership Foundation in HE (LFHE). It views the experiences of disabled leaders through the lens of ableism and considers ways in which the sector could positively address ableist practices in order to promote equality and diversity

Ableism in Academia: Theorising experiences of disabilities and chronic illnesses in higher education

The aim of the collection is to provide an open engagement with ableism issues that is not confined by and restricted to disciplinary conventions or categories. As such, researchers and students will find the book interesting, as it offers a topic that has yet to be covered in this specific way of theorisation and personal experiences. Higher education researchers may be used to interdisciplinary approaches, but disability, chronic illness and neurodiversity are not commonly explored in these ways. For disability studies researcher, the approach of combining disability, chronic illness and neurodiversity will be novel, as from a disability studies point of view the three are seen as different experiences. From an ableism studies point of view, however, they are clearly related. Researchers from sociological studies will find this collection particularly fruitful and interesting, as the societal ramifications are laid bare. For staff and students in the tertiary sector this book provides theory and conceptualisation, theorisation and also personal interpretation of ableism in academia. Academic and non-academic staff members, as well as students will benefit from the combination of theory and experiences. The debates around ableism, equality, disabilities and inclusion are meeting the current trend within academia, and this book then offers a wide range of readings