Understanding the Psychological Process of Avoidance-Based Self-Regulation on Facebook.

In relation to social network sites, prior research has evidenced behaviors (e.g., censoring) enacted by individuals used to avoid projecting an undesired image to their online audiences. However, no work directly examines the psychological process underpinning such behavior. Drawing upon the theory of self-focused attention and related literature, a model is proposed to fill this research gap. Two studies examine the process whereby public self-awareness (stimulated by engaging with Facebook) leads to a self-comparison with audience expectations and, if discrepant, an increase in social anxiety, which results in the intention to perform avoidance-based self-regulation. By finding support for this process, this research contributes an extended understanding of the psychological factors leading to avoidance-based regulation when online selves are subject to surveillance.

Designing and evaluating the acceptability of Realshare: An online support community for teenagers and young adults with cancer.

A participatory action approach was used to design and evaluate the acceptability of the Realshare online community. Pre and post-intervention focus groups were conducted and participants were asked to test out Realshare during two intervention periods: when a facilitator was present and when one was not. Focus group data and forum messages were thematically analysed. The themes identified related to participants' website design requirements, how they used the community and the evaluation of Realshare after having used it. Amendments were made to Realshare throughout the project. Realshare is available to young oncology patients in the South West of England.