All Users are (Not) Created Equal: Predictors Vary for Different Forms of Facebook Non/use

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

2019

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

Source Publication

Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction

Source ISSN

2573-0142

Abstract

Relatively little work has empirically examined use and non-use of social technologies as more than a dichotomous binary, despite increasing calls to do so. This paper compares three different forms of non/use that might otherwise fall under the single umbrella of Facebook "user": (1) those who have a current active account; (2) those who have deactivated their account; and (3) those who have considered deactivating but not actually done so. A subset of respondents (N=256) from a larger, demographically representative sample of internet users completed measures for usage and perceptions of Facebook, Facebook addiction, privacy experiences and behaviors, and demographics. Multinomial logistic regression modeling shows four specific variables as most predictive of a respondent's type: negative effects from "addictive" use, subjective intensity of Facebook usage, number of Facebook friends, and familiarity with or use of Facebook's privacy settings. These findings both fill gaps left by, and help resolve conflicting expectations from, prior work. Furthermore, they demonstrate how valuable insights can be gained by disaggregating "users" based on different forms of engagement with a given technology.

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Published in Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 2019. DOI.

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