The ‘Non-aligned’: Young People’s Narratives of Rejection of Social Networking Sites

• Autor(a) principal: Neves, Barbara Barbosa
• Data de Publicação: 2015
• Outros Autores: de Matos, João Monteiro, Rente, Rita, Martins, Sara Lopes
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/29085
• topic: Young People; Social Networking Sites; Facebook; Non-User; Technology Rejection; Technology Adoption; Perceived Usefulness; Social Practices; Social Identity; Self-presentation.

This article examines young people’s narratives of rejection of social networking sites (SNSs). It draws upon data of 30 semi-structured interviews with young people aged 18–26 from Portugal. The findings show that reasons for rejecting SNSs are related to three main categories: perceived usefulness of SNSs; specific social practices in SNSs (e.g., disclosure of personal data and gossip); and self-presentation and identity. In addition, our data point to four types of non-users: resisters, rejecters, surrogate users, and potential converts. This typology challenges dichotomies, such as, usage versus non-usage, access versus non-access, and consumption versus non-consumption. Finally, we explore feelings of missing out and social strategies set in place by non-users to cope with the pervasive use of SNSs among young people. We contribute, therefore, to the limited literature on rejection of social media amongst this group, by giving voice to young non-users and their choices.