Sharing Intimate Moments on YouTube: Women Who Vlog and Their Sense of Community, Friendship and Privacy

YouTube, a public video-sharing site, is attracting people who crave a sense of community, and is allowing individuals – specifically women – to maintain social relationships through its webbased system. Groups of these women vloggers document their efforts to conceive, their pregnancies and parenting challenges, which some critics argue are very personal experiences that should not be shared publicly with strangers. Using social penetration theory and elements of communication privacy management theory, this thesis analyzes how self-disclosure through computer-mediated communication converts superficial relationships with strangers into close, social connections by examining the extent to which breadth and depth of self-disclosure occur online between members of the community, and how privacy issues affect social penetration. Using the method of ethnographic research, including vlog viewing and interviews, the analysis reveals the reasons women share intimate moments online and how this type of self-disclosure fosters friendships through computer-mediated communication. According to participants, friendships developed through the social network site are valued as much as real-life relationships with friends and family. YouTube has become a platform for group formation and fellowship where broadcasting intimate moments online creates a platform for debate, discussion and greater understanding, especially for members of the trying to conceive community. SHARING INTIMATE MOMENTS ON YOUTUBE 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION . 5 Importance of the Study . 5 Statement of the Problem . 5 Definition of Terms Used . 7 Organization of Remaining Chapters. 8 CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE . 9 Philosophical Assumptions . 9 Theoretical Basis . 10 The Literature. 11 Social Network Sites and Social Penetration Theory. 14 Rationale . 19 Research Questions . 20 CHAPTER III: SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY . 21 Scope . 21 Methodology . 21 Validity . 23 Reliability . 24 Ethics. 24 CHAPTER IV: THE STUDY . 26 Introduction . 26 Results . 26 Data Analysis . 27 Context of Vlogging: Why Women Do It. 28 Vlogging Encounter: What It Looks Like . 30 Privacy Boundaries and Gender. 35 Language. 37 Discussion . 39 CHAPTER V: SUMMARIES AND CONCLUSIONS . 43 Limitations of the Study. 43 Further Study or Recommendations . 44 Conclusions . 44 REFERENCES . 47 Appendix A . 52 Email to YouTube Vloggers Asking for Participation . 52 Appendix B . 54 Author’s Note. 54 SHARING INTIMATE MOMENTS ON YOUTUBE 5 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION Importance of the Study The substantial growth of the Internet since the 1990s allows individuals to connect to each other in a variety of ways, widening users’ social circles by creating computer-mediated communities. Social interaction has become the most popular Internet activity, allowing users to keep in touch with family, friends, coworkers and acquaintances from real life (Iriberri & Leroy, 2009). However, the extensive reach of the Internet also helps to foster associations between people who would otherwise never have met in person, but who form close relationships through a social network site (SNS) because of a shared interest. One SNS that interests researchers is YouTube, a video-sharing community where some participants post video blogs, or vlogs, for others to view. Past communication theories of Walther (1996) and Daft and Lengel (1986) researched interpersonal communication in terms of computer-mediated communication (CMC) versus face-to-face (FTF) communication. These theories conflict in their arguments regarding which form of communication is richer, judging that CMC has advantages over FTF and vice versa. But recently, Walther (2010) concluded that online interpersonal communication is a valid and compelling focus of study in itself, without having to compare it to off-line behavior. Therefore, as a new media, YouTube is emerging as an area of study for CMC. Statement of the Problem Social penetration theory (Altman & Taylor, 1973) suggests that the human personality is “analogous to an onion” (p. 27), with the layers of the onion representing the depth dimensions of one’s personality. Altman and Taylor (1973) propose that social penetration proceeds through the onion like a hypothetical pin, moving from layer to layer without skipping layers. In this SHARING INTIMATE MOMENTS ON YOUTUBE 6 way, social interaction is gradual and systematic and moves from initial superficial topics to more intimate discussion (depth), while also widening the number of topics and categories shared between individuals (breadth). Scholars are challenging Altman and Taylor’s (1973) social penetration theory by suggesting that CMC allows relationships to develop more rapidly with just as much breadth and depth (Pennington, 2008). Additionally, extensive research exists regarding the level of intimacy in vlogs and how self-disclosure shapes privacy and relationship development through CMC (Child & Petronio, 2011). Gender issues also play an important role in understanding intimacy through CMC, as Bane, Cornish, Erspamer and Kampman (2010) indicate female friendships are developed through intimate disclosure, while male friendships are developed through shared experiences and activities. This supports Lange’s (2007) research which indicates female vloggers participate in more vulnerable and personal types of engagements, promoting higher levels of intimacy. What sets YouTube apart from other forms of CMC is that YouTube employs both CMC and FTF communication, as most vlogs utilize a diary format where an individual is speaking conversationally into a video camera. According to Tolson (2010), this form of vlogging reproduces “the feel of face-to-face communication,” even though it is accessed through technology (p. 277). This distinctive characteristic has important implications for research by proposing that social penetration theory is evolving, suggesting that developing lasting relationships does not take as much time as previously thought because of the melding of CMC and FTF communication. Issues of privacy, intimacy and self-disclosure also need to be examined, as it is the