Beyond disclosure: the role of self-identity and context collapse in privacy management on identified social media for LGBTQ+ people
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-04-2022-0080 |
| Published date | 10 October 2022 |
| Date | 10 October 2022 |
| Pages | 718-742 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Records management & preservation,Document management,Classification & cataloguing,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Scholarly communications/publishing,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
| Author | Xinlin Yao,Yuxiang Chris Zhao,Shijie Song,Xiaolun Wang |
Beyond disclosure: the role of self-
identity and context collapse in
privacy management on identified
social media for LGBTQ+people
Xinlin Yao
Business School, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
Yuxiang Chris Zhao
School of Economics and Management,
Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China
Shijie Song
Business School, Hohai University, Nanjing, China, and
Xiaolun Wang
College of Economics and Management,
Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China
Abstract
Purpose –While anonymous online interactions could be helpful and less risky, they are usually not enough
for LGBTQþpeople to satisfy theneed of expressing their marginalized identity to networks of known ties (i.e.
on identified social media like Facebook, WeChat, and TikTok). However, identified social media bring
LGBTQþpeople both sources and challenges like “context collapse”that flattens diverse networks or
audiences that are originally separated. Previous studies focus on LGBTQþpeople’s disclosure and responses
to context collapse, few studies investigate how their perceptions of context collapse are shaped and their
privacy management beyond regulating disclosure on social media. Drawing on identity theory and
communication privacy management (CPM), this study aims to investigate how the need of LGBTQþpeople
for self-identity affects their perceived context collapse and results in privacy management on identified
social media.
Design/methodology/approach –Given the target population is LGBTQþpeople, The authors recruited
participants through active LGBTQþonline communities, influential LGBTQþactivists, and the snowballing
sampling. The authors empirically examined the proposed model using the PLS-SEM technique with a valid
sample of 232 respondents concerning their identity practices and privacy management on WeChat, a typical
and popular identified social media in China.
Findings –The results suggested that the needfor expressing the self and the need for maintainingcontinuity
of self-identity have significant influences on perceived context collapse, but vary in directions. The perceived
context collapse will motivate LGBTQþindividuals to engage in privacy management to readjust rules on
ownership, access, and extension. However, only ownership management helps them regain the perceived
privacy control on social media.
Originality/value –This study incorporated and highlighted the influence of LGBTQþidentity in shaping
context collapse and online privacy management. This study contributes to the literature on privacy and
information communication and yields practical implications, especially on improving privacy-related
interactive design for identified social media services.
Keywords Self-identity, Context collapse, Communication privacy management, Identified social
media, LGBTQþ
Paper type Research paper
JD
79,3
718
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (#72002103, 72204076) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central
Universities (#63222055).
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0022-0418.htm
Received 13 April 2022
Revised 16 September 2022
Accepted 22 September 2022
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 79 No. 3, 2023
pp. 718-742
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-04-2022-0080
1. Introduction
Online social networking services (SNSs) have played essential roles for LGBTQþ(lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning) individuals in identity exploration,
negotiation, and articulation (Ceglarek and Ward, 2016). The emerging online spaces offer
important resources for LGBTQþpeople, such as finding online communities, building new
friendships, and accessing information and knowledge that is sensitive or difficult to obtain
in the offline context (Fox and Ralston, 2016). Social media has become a major sphere where
LGBTQþindividuals spend time interacting with peers because virtual space is seemingly to
be more inclusive than offline ones. For example, previous studies found that young
LGBTQþpeople use social media to reconfirm and obtain support for their sexual identity
(Han et al., 2019;Owens, 2017).
However, the potential advantages do not offset the fact that social media could be hostile
and bring risks for LGBTQþpeople. Particularly in some conservative areas, LGBTQþis
still regarded as a quite sensitive topic among the major population (Wu et al., 2020). Many
studies have reported the negative emotions and experiences that LGBTQþindividuals
encountered online (Jia et al., 2021;Hanckel et al., 2019). Unexpected disclosure of the
LGBTQþidentity may result in serious consequences, such as cyberbullying, harassment,
discrimination, social rejection, and further stigmatization (DeVito et al., 2018). These risks
will be further magnified in identified social media (e.g. Facebook, WeChat, TikTok), which
typically encourage users to duplicate, transfer, and represent their offline individual
connections (e.g. family, friends, and colleagues) (Andalibi, 2020;Simpson and Semaan, 2021;
Zhang et al., 2017). In addition, such identified social media often treat diverse audiences as
uniform and singular, thus resulting in context collapse—generally refers to “how people,
information, and norms from one context seep into the bounds of another”(Davis and
Jurgenson, 2014, p. 477). Context collapse occurs when different contexts that are normally
separated (e.g. work vs family) are flattened out into one arena (Davis and Jurgenson, 2014;
Marwick and Boyd, 2011), which makes social media particularly tricky for LGBTQþpeople
due to the difficulties of maintaining identity disclosure (or not) across distinct contexts
(Duguay, 2016;Fox and Warber, 2015;Hanckel et al., 2019). Therefore, privacy is an
important issue when it warrants unexpected exposure or reflects a misrepresentation of the
LGBTQþindividuals on identified social media (Cannon et al., 2017). However, for sexual
minorities, sexuality can combine with other demographic factors to influence their privacy
concerns, and this intersectionality suggests that sexual identities and ethnic-cultural
elements are mutually constitutive among LGBTQþpeople’s privacy management (Dhoest,
2016;Marwick, 2013). Context collapse as a salient challenge in online privacy contexts
highlights the problem of intersectional identities of the LGBTQþcommunities, indicating
the overlap of diverse networks or audiences that are originally separated (Marwick and
Boyd, 2011;Vitak, 2012;Wu et al., 2020). For LGBTQþpeople, context collapse apparently
may result in more severe consequences due to the stigmatized identity (Carrasco and Kerne,
2018;Duguay, 2016;Pyle et al., 2021). Of note, these issues will be more complicated and
challenging on the identified social media, where real identities are usually revealed and
connections are embodied in the physical world (Andalibi, 2020).
Although many studies have discussed context collapse among LGBTQþpeople,
previous LGBTQþprivacy studies mainly focus on information disclosure online. However,
disclosure is merely part of the privacy story. Self-disclosure and privacy are related but
distinct concepts (Andalibi, 2020). As Altman (1975) stated, privacy is a dynamic process by
which individuals or groups regulate interaction with others. Thus, privacy boundaries
concern not only information disclosure but also defining who we are, whom we interact with,
and how or when (Lin and Armstrong, 2019;Wisniewski et al., 2012). Moreover, given context
collapse refers to the intermingling of role identities across networks, the exploration and
negotiation of sexuality and gender identity will play important roles in influencing the
Self-identity
and context
collapse in
privacy
719
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