Limiting, leaving, and (re)lapsing

An Exploration of Facebook Non-Use Practices and Experiences

Bibliographic Data

ID23344702
AuthorsEric P S Baumer (0000-0001-5338-4421, Cornell University), Phil Adams (Cornell University), Vera Khovanskaya (0000-0002-8572-546X, Cornell University), Vera D Khovanskaya (Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA), T Liao (0000-0003-1889-3831, Cornell University), Tony C Liao (Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA), Madeline Smith (0000-0002-4728-8131, Northwestern University), Madeline E Smith (Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA), Victoria Schwanda Sosik (Cornell University), Kaiton Williams (0000-0003-1714-7941, Cornell University)
Year2013
Pages3257-3266
Publication date2013-04-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeCONFERENCE
VenueProceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CONFERENCE)
PublisherACM (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1145/2470654.2466446
OpenAlexW2115373648
LanguageEN
Citations received69
References cited20

Despite the abundance of research on social networking sites, relatively little research has studied those who choose not to use such sites. This paper presents results from a questionnaire of over 400 Internet users, focusing specifically on Facebook and those users who have left the service. Results show the lack of a clear, binary distinction between use and non-use, that various practices enable diverse ways and degrees of engagement with and disengagement from Facebook. Furthermore, qualitative analysis reveals numerous complex and interrelated motivations and justifications, both for leaving and for maintaining some type of connection. These motivations include: privacy, data misuse, productivity, banality, addiction, and external pressures. These results not only contribute to our understanding of online sociality by examining this under-explored area, but they also build on previous work to help advance how we conceptually account for the sociological processes of non-use.

Disengagement theory · Internet privacy · Limiting · Political science · Public relations · Qualitative research · Social media · Social science · Sociality · Sociology · The Internet · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Engineering · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Privacy, Security, and Data Protection · Social Media and Politics

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