A New Social Order: Mechanisms for Social Network Site Boundary Regulation

Abstract

Social Network Site (SNS) use has become ubiquitous, with hundreds of millions of users sharing and interacting online. Yet,constant, unbounded sharing and interacting with others can cause social crowding and emotional harm (Altman 1975). Weexplore interpersonal boundary regulation on Social Network Sites to understand these tradeoffs and examine how toimprove the social experiences of users. In this paper, we present a taxonomy of five categories of interpersonal boundarymechanisms relevant to SNSs and the specific interface controls that sites provide for managing these boundaries. Wequalitatively research how SNS users employ these mechanisms and the boundary issues that arise while interacting onlinewith others. These results present a first step towards a model of SNS interpersonal boundary regulation.