High-Level Project Background: 

When it comes to online safety concerns, social media companies are faced with a seemingly impossible task: to create platforms where users can gain access, connection, and community while still maintaining guardrails that ensure a user’s safety and privacy. 

PHASE 1: Understanding ‘privacy calculus’ in online groups in the U.S. 

Project Background: 

Our research aimed to unpack the intricate decision-making processes users undergo when choosing to join and engage with online communities while weighing their safety and privacy concerns. We hoped to better understand a user's motivations for participation, the benefits of participation, and the associated tradeoffs, including types of harm(s) they may encounter. Ultimately, our objective aimed to give context and gain an understanding of the delicate balance between preserving user privacy and promoting inclusivity within online communities.

Approach:

To get a breadth of understanding, we recruited 20 group members and 20 group administrators (40 users in total) to participate in a seven-day online diary. We made sure to recruit both privacy-sensitive and non-privacy-sensitive individuals. During the seven days, users shared with us which groups they participated in, and why they were meaningful. They also documented their experiences, both positive and negative, and provided us with examples of when privacy harms do happen. 

We followed up the online diary with 24 interviews (including both members and administrators) to gain context and depth of understanding around when these harms or perceived harms are more likely to happen. 

Insights and Impact:

We learned that the value that a user derives from an online community heavily impacts how a user thinks about their safety and privacy when engaging with that community. With this understanding, we were able to identify the types of groups that are more susceptible to experiencing harm. We were also able to identify best practices for admins to support a safer and more comfortable online community environment. 

PHASE 2:  A deep dive into the most vulnerable communities globally; India and Brazil.

Project Background: 

Upon gaining a clearer understanding of which types of online groups are most susceptible to harm, our next step was to more deeply understand who the most vulnerable users are and how they are experiencing harm. The underlying assumption of this work is that by safeguarding the most vulnerable users, we could establish a framework for ensuring a safer online environment for all users. 

Approach: 

Going into this research, we were fully aware of the challenges we would face in locating these more vulnerable users. Our recruitment efforts focused on engaging with individuals in India and Brazil who are marginalized, underrepresented, or stigmatized in their respective cultures, where violations of privacy could potentially cause harm to them in their offline lives. Traditional methods, such as databases and questionnaire-style screeners, were inadequate for engaging with this target group about this sensitive subject. Thus, we worked closely with trusted partners to train them on our dialogue-based recruiting techniques to ensure we respectfully engaged the right people. 

Working closely with our trusted partners, we conducted 20 user interviews of both members and admins in each country, listening deeply to their stories of connection and support, as well as their more difficult experiences of harm and perceived harm. Over the course of these interviews, it was important to us that we showed up with care and empathy for those from whom we were learning. 

Insights & Impact: 

What we learned is that the most vulnerable users are often the ones taking the biggest risks in online groups. Despite the potential dangers, these users rely on the support and value provided by these online communities to meet their needs. Knowing this, we were able to give strategic recommendations around product features that would support users in protecting themselves and support admins in creating a culture of trust. 

In addition to a full report with strategic recommendations, we delivered a documentary-style video that gave context and shared real human experience with real human emotion. The video was designed as a call to action, with an unconventional and artistic approach that helped viewers to understand and have empathy for their more vulnerable users. Employees make more effective decisions when they have a better understanding of the end user.