Linda Elen Olsen

Hjemmeside: http://www.linkedin.com/in/lindaeo

Stilling: stipendiat

Telefon: 55 58 91 38

E-post: Linda.Olsen@infomedia.uib.no

Besøksadresse: Fosswinckelsgt. 6

Romnummer: 516

Stipendiat i webstudier, med master i medievitenskap.

Forsker på erfaringer og bruk av sosiale nettverkstjenester, og tillit til informasjon på web.

Publikasjoner i Cristin

Masteroppgave: "Professional networking online. A qualitative study of LinkedIn use in Norway" [https://bora.uib.no/handle/1956/2935]

"The overall aim of Linda Elen Olsen's research project is to study Social Network Services (SNSs) and to further research why, for what and how professionals employ them, with special attention to users’ experiences. As part of this research, the project focuses on users’ evaluation of risk, trustworthiness and privacy when sharing information on SNSs. The project also researches the process of adoption of SNSs.

One of the major challenges when studying SNSs is that they often address different groups of people and support various kinds of social ties. The whys, whats and hows of usage may differ according to the SNSs that are being studied, and their users. Different SNSs may also support various aspects of people’s social practices. There is still much uncovered territory, and with the continuous growth and usage of SNSs, further research is needed for a more thorough understanding of the services.

The research project is based on empirical studies of two SNSs that attract users world-wide, but that also address different audiences and have different intentions related to use: LinkedIn.com and Facebook.com. LinkedIn is a SNS that primarily addresses adults in a professional capacity while Facebook generally addresses both youth and adults in a private capacity. Both SNSs attract a variety of members and might be employed differently according to user preferences. They also have interesting qualities and challenges related to users' evaluation of risk, trustworthiness and privacy, which in many cases may serve as a premise for the services to work well.

Research on both LinkedIn and Facebook will provide valuable insights to how professionals may employ various SNSs, different users’ experiences, to what extent notions of privacy might be changing, and how users evaluate risk and trustworthiness when they share digital information.

In order to study how different groups of people may experience and employ SNSs, how information and privacy is managed, and how users evaluate risk and trustworthiness, it is necessary to gain access to users of the SNSs. As such, the research project is primarily based on in-depth interviews with users (informants) from each of the two SNSs."