social media

When online visibility deters social interaction: The case of digital gifts

One of the defining features of online social networks is that users' actions are visible to other users. In this paper, we argue that such visibility can have a detrimental effect on users' willingness to exchange digital gifts. Gift giving is an …

Strangers you may know: social surveillance and intimacy online

Online social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook regularly use People You May Know (PYMK) algorithms to encourage connectivity among their users. We argue that these algorithms have the unintended effect of making users’ interactions more visible, …