Invasion of Privacy
With online self-disclosure being much higher then in person to person communication, there is readily available information about a person only a mouse click away. This has led to some new issues regarding individual privacy. Facebook and other social networking sites allow users to browse all sorts of information anonymously. Researchers have only begun to study online intrusions of privacy and much more research needs to be done. However, the current research suggests that a handful of problems arise when intimate relationships are sought or ended.
Types of Cyber Stalking and online Intrusion
According to Lyndon, Bonds-Raacke & Cratty (2011), young adults engage in stalking behaviors frequently online. These behaviors do not cause fear, therefore do not meet the technical definition of stalking. The same features that make Facebook popular with users (easy, free and anonymous access to information) can also cause a negative effect (Marshall, 2012). The term “Facebook Stalking” has become a common phrase when a person consistently monitors information displayed on a significant others Facebook page. Examples of these behaviors include: obsessively reading wall posts, checking status updates and scanning through uploaded photos. Lyndon et al., designed a study to determine the, “number of people who engage in this type of behavior with their romantic ex-partners and to gauge the overlap between Facebook harassment, cyber obsessional pursuit (COP), and obsessive relational intrusion (ORI)” (Lyndon et al., 2011).
Cyber obsessional pursuit (COP) is, when the internet is used to pursue, harass or contact a person who does not wish to be. He found that, "participants who engaged in COP were almost six times likely to also perpetrate ORI. Also, if participants admitted to engaging in some types of stalking behaviors, they did so online, offline, and on Facebook." (Lyndon et al. 2011).
Facebook, being the popular online social tool that it is, allows users to advance relational connections. Members have the opportunity to share copious amounts of information in their online community and network. This has led to a phenomenon called, Online Obsessive Relational Intrusion (o-ORI). It is a, “repeated, unwanted pursuit and invasion of one’s sense of physical or symbolic privacy by another person, either stranger or acquaintance, who desires and/or presumes an intimate relationship” (quoted in Chaulk, 2011). Facebook is used in O-ORI in five major ways; to facilitate primary contact, facilitate secondary contact, expressions of affection, monitoring activity and to facilitate unwanted interactions.
Using an online survey, researchers Chaulk and Jones (2011) gathered information from 230 participants, aged 18 to 25. They reported either their behavior or others behavior toward them. The purpose of the study was to determine if Facebook facilitated relational intrusion-like behaviors. They found that there are higher frequencies of offending behaviors, as opposed to being targets of the behaviors, in ex-intimate and acquaintance groups. More than half of the survey responders reported that they use Facebook to keep tabs on ex-intimate partners. They did this through monitoring and surveillance which are lower forms of ORI (Chaulk, 2011).
For a list of state laws concerning cyber stalking of any sort please follow this link.
Cyber obsessional pursuit (COP) is, when the internet is used to pursue, harass or contact a person who does not wish to be. He found that, "participants who engaged in COP were almost six times likely to also perpetrate ORI. Also, if participants admitted to engaging in some types of stalking behaviors, they did so online, offline, and on Facebook." (Lyndon et al. 2011).
Facebook, being the popular online social tool that it is, allows users to advance relational connections. Members have the opportunity to share copious amounts of information in their online community and network. This has led to a phenomenon called, Online Obsessive Relational Intrusion (o-ORI). It is a, “repeated, unwanted pursuit and invasion of one’s sense of physical or symbolic privacy by another person, either stranger or acquaintance, who desires and/or presumes an intimate relationship” (quoted in Chaulk, 2011). Facebook is used in O-ORI in five major ways; to facilitate primary contact, facilitate secondary contact, expressions of affection, monitoring activity and to facilitate unwanted interactions.
Using an online survey, researchers Chaulk and Jones (2011) gathered information from 230 participants, aged 18 to 25. They reported either their behavior or others behavior toward them. The purpose of the study was to determine if Facebook facilitated relational intrusion-like behaviors. They found that there are higher frequencies of offending behaviors, as opposed to being targets of the behaviors, in ex-intimate and acquaintance groups. More than half of the survey responders reported that they use Facebook to keep tabs on ex-intimate partners. They did this through monitoring and surveillance which are lower forms of ORI (Chaulk, 2011).
For a list of state laws concerning cyber stalking of any sort please follow this link.
Implications
Facebook, allows for anonymous tracking and monitoring of others behavior. ORI is most likely to happen among ex-intimates and there is evidence that relational intrusion and stalking are facilitated by Facebook (Chaulk, 2011). Facebook is used mainly as a way to initiate contact with a target. This is easily done because people frequently and openly share their location. Chaulk (2011) found that much of an individuals time spent on Facebook is spent observing what other people are doing and making incidental contact with them.
Due to Facebook's easy accessibility and popular form of communication, "it allows for a sense of distance while still maintaining the power of immediacy" (Lyndon et al. 2011). People can view photographs and other posts, but also have the ability to post embarrassing information in a public setting, this is a heightened form of harassment that comes from easily invading a persons sense of privacy.
Due to Facebook's easy accessibility and popular form of communication, "it allows for a sense of distance while still maintaining the power of immediacy" (Lyndon et al. 2011). People can view photographs and other posts, but also have the ability to post embarrassing information in a public setting, this is a heightened form of harassment that comes from easily invading a persons sense of privacy.
Protecting yourself from These Invasions
Chaulk (2011) suggests, "users of social networking sites are well-advised to be selective in their criteria for adding ‘friends’ and be wary of individuals that begin to exhibit higher forms of relational intrusion behaviors. In addition, users should make themselves aware of the various privacy settings that are available through the site."