Social Privacy in Networked Publics: Teens’ Attitudes, Practices, and Strategies

A Decade in Internet Time: Symposium on the Dynamics of the Internet and Society, September 2011

29 Pages Posted: 10 Sep 2011 Last revised: 3 Jan 2013

See all articles by Danah Boyd

Danah Boyd

Microsoft Research; Georgetown University; Data & Society Research Institute

Alice E. Marwick

Data & Society Research Institute

Date Written: September 22, 2011

Abstract

This paper examines how teens understand privacy in highly public networked environments like Facebook and Twitter. We describe both teens’ practices, their privacy strategies, and the structural conditions in which they are embedded, highlighting the ways in which privacy, as it plays out in everyday life, is related more to agency and the ability to control a social situation than particular properties of information. Finally, we discuss the implications of teens’ practices and strategies, revealing the importance of social norms as a regulatory force.

(This paper was presented at Oxford Internet Institute’s “A Decade in Internet Time: Symposium on the Dynamics of the Internet and Society” on September 22, 2011.)

Keywords: Facebook, privacy, youth, teens, social media, ethnography, cultural studies

Suggested Citation

Boyd, Danah and Marwick, Alice E., Social Privacy in Networked Publics: Teens’ Attitudes, Practices, and Strategies (September 22, 2011). A Decade in Internet Time: Symposium on the Dynamics of the Internet and Society, September 2011, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1925128

Danah Boyd (Contact Author)

Microsoft Research ( email )

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Georgetown University ( email )

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Data & Society Research Institute ( email )

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Alice E. Marwick

Data & Society Research Institute ( email )

36 West 20th Street
11th Floor
New York,, NY 10011
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.datasociety.net

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