Studies Using CPM

Connection Facebook and Communication Privacy Management Theory 

The goal of this study is to utilize Communication Privacy Management Theory as a foundation for advancing hypotheses about working professionals responses to co-workers Facebook friend requests (Frampton, pg, 2)

 When in a work setting many are not sure how to incorporate Facebook into their work life because there can be a lot of private information revealed in Facebook that some could possibly not want their co-workers to know. "The articles stated that many are scared to let co-workers seek out that private information and and engage in surveillance" (Frampton, pg, 1) 

In this article it stated that Facebook is used for connecting with peers and close friends so many are worried that by adding co-workers on Facebook they may be disclosing private information that is not intended for professional co-workers to read and access. (Frampton, pg, 1)

This study uses all parts of the Communication Privacy Management Theory in explaining all the ways that adding co-workers as Facebook friends/ using Facebook in general is a way of sharing private information to a pool of people through the internet. 

The study found that when adding your co-worked on Facebook it creates a lot of different privacy issues and things to take into consideration on something that seems so small. When adding a co-work or any friend on Facebook anything you share, your Facebook friend become co-owners of your information. 

So when adding your co-workers or friends on Facebook just think that all your private information they are going to be co-owners of.

Worried your co-workers might see the real you

Communication Privacy Management Theory in Interracial Couples

A study was done called "To Reveal or Conceal? Privacy Management Processes among Interracial Romantic Partners". This study took 27 different interracial couples and look at how the shared or disclosed information about their relationship. This is using the communication privacy management theory because it is showing the ways the people talk about there relationship to people who might judge them, and who they choose to take risks in telling. (Brummett, pg. 22)

This theory talks about how relationships do not live in isolation but are thriving by the social life around them. Since relationships are such a public thing people need to gain social acceptance for their partner by their peers, by gaining approval and support from their friends. 

When people are apart of an interracial relationship according to this study they "are typically a source of resistance towards interracial romantic relationships, they are subject to disapproval, conflict, and prejudice from others and frequently cope with lower reported and received levels of social network support compared to those in love in same-race relationships". This interracial are typically volatilizing social norms compared to the article that it is an increased risk for relational hardships. 

This study talked through the hardships that people in interracial have but it talks about how they are using Communication Privacy Management theory to talk through the relationships they are in with one another and disclosing information to each other about the hardships of the relationship. This can be anything from telling or disclosing on what ones family members thinks of the interracial relationship, or how much they choose to tell their family members about their personal interracial relationship. These are things that could could cause family issues or relational issues because of disapproval, taking into consideration the risks that may or may not be taken when talking about the relationship.

An Interactive Communication Privacy Management Experiment to try in a Classroom 

There is a website called postsecret.com which is based on the theory of Communication Privacy Management, it is a website where anyone can tell there secret anonymously and it gets posted on the website. The secrets can be either funny or serious but it is a way for people to tell someone. It is a way that students can learn about CPM first hand, with it having meaning and relations to their life. 

The way the experiment works in a classroom is each student studies the website for a couple weeks, writing down there feelings and thoughts. After that students will bring a truthful secret to class anonymously and  it will be hung around the room. But if students do not feel comfortable with this they can bring a blank note card. Students can write anything funny to serious but it has to be truthful. In this exercise students are learning disclosure, boundaries, communication control and privacy rule development (Nodulman, pg,1). This experiment shows how and why individuals manage their private disclosures.

Students from this exercise said that they "felt it was a good way to practice using private information and what it feels like to receive private information that may not have been expected". (Nodulman, pg, 4). I believe that this is a good assignment where students may be shocked  by the information they are getting from their peers but it is a practice for when they may get private information outside the classroom and how they can handle it in the real world. 

I love this idea of a study and would be a great ice breaker to help all students either if they want to share something private in an anonymous setting or help people deal with receiving private information. 
  
Here is the link for postsecret.com to use the link and try the study in your own classroom!

My information on this study was taken from an Article called "The Secret Life of your Classmates: Understanding Communication Privacy Management." By Jessica A. Nodulman. The following is a link where you can get a copy of how the study is done from Oregon State University if you are a student or facility. CPM Classroom Study