Fragmentation of identity through structural holes in email contacts

1. Fragmentation of identity through structural holes in email contacts danah boyd, Jeff Potter, Fernanda Viegas (Sociable Media, MIT Media Lab) danah boyd, Jeff Potter, Fernanda Viegas . Sociable Media, MIT Media Lab . Sunbelt . 17 February 2002

2. Research Questions • How does social network structure impact individual construction of identity? • How is this behavior made explicit online? • How can this be observed within the context of email? danah boyd, Jeff Potter, Fernanda Viegas . Sociable Media, MIT Media Lab . Sunbelt . 17 February 2002

3. Construction of Individual Identity • Interrelated ideas of identity • Social identity: public presentation of self • Internal identity: private view of self • Fragmentation vs. Multi-Faceted Identity • Fragmentation: conflicting internal identity • Multi-faceted: coherent internal identity, fragmented social identity danah boyd, Jeff Potter, Fernanda Viegas . Sociable Media, MIT Media Lab . Sunbelt . 17 February 2002

4. Managing Faceted Selves • Differentiated presentation changed according to context • How? Fashion, language, location/context, people • Why? Privacy, social appropriateness, reputation differentiation • Who? Dependent on self-monitoring habits, marginalization, fear of retribution • Fragmented social network (e.g., work, clubs, family, …) • Separate social circles provide for segmentation of presentation danah boyd, Jeff Potter, Fernanda Viegas . Sociable Media, MIT Media Lab . Sunbelt . 17 February 2002

5. Identity online • Confusion of context • Ease of moving between multiple contexts • Data aggregated across “locations” • Email address serves as context • Allows for privacy and faceted behavior danah boyd, Jeff Potter, Fernanda Viegas . Sociable Media, MIT Media Lab . Sunbelt . 17 February 2002

6. Relating Network Structure • Structural holes & bridges (Burt) • Maximize & control information flow • Simmelian ties (Krackhardt) • In public settings, personally constraining by restricting appropriate behavior – aggregate of all associations • Control of network structure • Minimize uncontrolled personal information flow danah boyd, Jeff Potter, Fernanda Viegas . Sociable Media, MIT Media Lab . Sunbelt . 17 February 2002

7. Structuring social networks via email • Recognizing the power of multiple recipients • Copy/paste phenomenon to appear personal or contextual • Slight content alternations for context • Making others aware of audience danah boyd, Jeff Potter, Fernanda Viegas . Sociable Media, MIT Media Lab . Sunbelt . 17 February 2002

8. Ego-Centric Visualization • Visualization tool to observe social networks embedded in email • Focused on structure • Analyzed “Mike’s” email habits • 5 years worth of complete data • Maintains multiple email addresses for different contexts • (Dis)advantages of using one person’s behaviors danah boyd, Jeff Potter, Fernanda Viegas . Sociable Media, MIT Media Lab . Sunbelt . 17 February 2002

9. Introducing Mike • Social characteristics: • 24-year old, gay-identified, white male • Born in northern CA, attended Yale (art & computer science) • Friends & jobs in: Boston, SF, Chicago, NYC • Uses many forms of media to stay connected • Mike’s primary social communities: • Family, high school friends • Undergraduate friends • Gay men in/outside Boston, in NYC • Boston, Texas, California work colleagues danah boyd, Jeff Potter, Fernanda Viegas . Sociable Media, MIT Media Lab . Sunbelt . 17 February 2002

10. Mike’s dataset • 80,941 messages • 1.03 average recipients per msg • 15,537 unique people • 7,250 people w/ 2,618 knowledge ties (excluding listservs) • 662,078 ties between all respondents (using only messages with <50 recipients; otherwise, 11.7 million) • 226 trusted ties; 23 reciprocal danah boyd, Jeff Potter, Fernanda Viegas . Sociable Media, MIT Media Lab . Sunbelt . 17 February 2002

11. Defining Connectivity • Knowledge ties • If A sends a message to B, A ‘knows’ B • Bdoes not necessarily know A • Awareness ties • If B receives a message from A -> B is ‘aware’ of A • If B and C both receive a message from A -> B and C are ‘aware’ of each other • Trusted ties • If A sends a message to B and blind carbon copies (BCC’s) D -> A ‘knows’ and ‘trusts’ D • (D has the ability to respond and reveal that A included people without B’s awareness) danah boyd, Jeff Potter, Fernanda Viegas . Sociable Media, MIT Media Lab . Sunbelt . 17 February 2002

12. Visualizations danah boyd, Jeff Potter, Fernanda Viegas . Sociable Media, MIT Media Lab . Sunbelt . 17 February 2002

13. Visualizations: Overview • Goal is to allow one to quickly see how Mike’s network is connected and view structural holes • Methodology • Spring/Wire explanation • View of entire world • Close-up views of network danah boyd, Jeff Potter, Fernanda Viegas . Sociable Media, MIT Media Lab . Sunbelt . 17 February 2002

14. Visualizations: Methodology • Basic spring/node algorithm used to place nodes in optimal location • - annealing algorithms don’t work with 15,000 nodes • Colors are used to indicate the relationship to the person • - based on which of Mike’s email address the person uses • - most common address used danah boyd, Jeff Potter, Fernanda Viegas . Sociable Media, MIT Media Lab . Sunbelt . 17 February 2002

15. Visualizations: Spring/Node (1/2) • Basic spring algorithm used to place nodes • -Ties act as springs, pulling connected nodes closer together • -Nodes act like magnets and repel each other danah boyd, Jeff Potter, Fernanda Viegas . Sociable Media, MIT Media Lab . Sunbelt . 17 February 2002

16. Visualizations: Spring/Node (2/2) • All nodes start out at random location, spring algorithm is run several hundred iterations • This (eventually) results in connected nodes being nearby and non-connected being far away danah boyd, Jeff Potter, Fernanda Viegas . Sociable Media, MIT Media Lab . Sunbelt . 17 February 2002

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18. Visualization: Entire World (1/2) • Color key for • all images danah boyd, Jeff Potter, Fernanda Viegas . Sociable Media, MIT Media Lab . Sunbelt . 17 February 2002

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25. Social Implications • Using one person’s email, we can observe the social networks of hundreds of people - what are the implications of this? danah boyd, Jeff Potter, Fernanda Viegas . Sociable Media, MIT Media Lab . Sunbelt . 17 February 2002

26. Thoughts moving forward • More detailed analysis • Use visualizations to have ethnographic conversation with Mike • Extend to multiple users • Visual comparison valuable • Allow for interactivity • More detailed analysis of ego-centric graphs • Learn more from social network analysts danah boyd, Jeff Potter, Fernanda Viegas . Sociable Media, MIT Media Lab . Sunbelt . 17 February 2002

27. http://smg.media.mit.edu/projects/SocialFragments/ danah boyd, Jeff Potter, Fernanda Viegas . Sociable Media, MIT Media Lab . Sunbelt . 17 February 2002