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← 31 | 32 → Privacy Management Matters in Digital Family Communication

JEFFREY T. CHILD

Kent State University

SANDRA PETRONIO

Indiana University-Purdue University

Introduction

Over the last decade, social media and interactive communication technologies have had a dramatic impact on the way family members interact with one another, creating a number of challenges (Padilla-Walker, Coyne, & Fraser, 2012). Privacy management, in particular, is a main concern for parents and children (Petronio, 2010). The way family members manage their privacy online amid so many possible ways to use interactive communication technology is often confusing and can lead to privacy turbulence and ultimately privacy breakdowns (Child, Haridakis, & Petronio, 2012; Petronio, 2010). Given the newness of these communication options, families have had to develop unique sets of privacy rules for the way members regulate the flow of personal and family information online (Child & Westermann, 2013).

Families manage privacy among family members in many ways, but the ones that prove most difficult are the ways parents regulate children’s choices about managing private information online—information both about themselves and other family members. For example, a mom writes about purchasing a smart-phone for her young teenage son (Italie, 2013): It is the first time he has had a smartphone, and his mom is concerned about the disclosure choices he might ← 32 | 33 → make online. She is not sure what her son might think is acceptable to tell others about...