Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 social Communications, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
2 Department of Communication, University of Tehran
Abstract
The way of communication between family members has gradually changed in the last two decades. In the new millennium, significant changes in this field have been accompanied by the rapid development of new communication technologies and the expansion of diversity in family structures and norms. Today, spouses and families are present in wider interactive worlds.Today, media has clearly become an integral part of the daily routine of family life. Cell phones imply a wider communication network that can be connected to while being with family members. "At the same time, the technology of communication, and in particular the Internet, has created two interconnected spaces of daily life, where daily life and the way of life are formed in these two distinct and yet connected spaces" Today's complex virtual ecosystems have changed the communication space of spouses. Changing the communication space has introduced a different interactive experience into the daily life of family members. These changes have affected the quality of daily life and the most private aspects of family members' experiences. Recently, researchers have stated that interactive technologies have become a part of the sub-system of spouses' relationships. Communication technologies introduce a new element in the relationship between husband and wife, which can affect both their feelings and their intimacy; Because it is important for each party of the relationship to feel safe and trust in the relationship.
This research seeks to answer these questions that with the expansion of networking and the change of family communication patterns, how do spouses organize their privacy and the boundaries of family communication? How are communication boundaries and territories negotiated by spouses, and what are the readings of the concept of privacy and surveillance in today's family?
With the emergence of virtual space alongside the real world, the model of the nuclear family of husband and wife and children has ended in terms of the changes that have been made, and the family members have expanded, so the model of the "dual specialization model of family", which is a link between both real and virtual spaces It has replaced the previous patterns of the family. "The second space is a real virtual space that is formed in the individual's virtual world and has the characteristics of being objective, digital, allowed to be real, interactive, non-central with the possibility of wide access and the power of multiple, diverse and at the same time different choices from everyday life experiences.
In the dual specialization model of family, based on the coordinates of virtual space, concepts such as home space, presence at home, family communication, family roles and duties, privacy and many other related issues have undergone semantic reconstruction, and the context in which the family is placed has also changed. has done
In historical theories about privacy, control has been considered as an important concept in the definition of privacy.
Trust and norms are the keys to privacy. Of course, to establish trust and norms, communication is necessary. Trust and norms act as privacy mechanisms that represent crystallized private communication. Control and communication have found a new balance in social media communication: control is lost, and communication is gaining power. In other words, users do not rely only on control in the first place, but also strive to create norms and trust. In fact, privacy is redefined by interpersonal communication.
In this research, a semi-structured interview was conducted with three groups of respondents: the first group, spouses, the second group, informants, and the third group, psychologists and family counselors (couple therapists), which includes a total of 47 people, and the information of 23 people Direct and other samples were extracted through couple therapists and informants.
The first group is the spouses themselves, which includes examples of users who have the following characteristics; They were born between 1360 and 1380 and are users of various virtual platforms, messengers and social networks, they generally have a personal page on Instagram or are gamers.
Husband and wife read privacy from two perspectives; One perspective is "Privacy in their communication domain" while using mobile phones and being on social networks, and the second perspective is "Privacy in sharing their relationships on social networks". In both perspectives, a diverse range of readings regarding privacy are proposed by spouses.
The user's husband and wife have different attitudes towards privacy. The analysis of the content of the interviews shows that the two organizing themes of "rereading privacy in the communication realm of spouses" and "rereading privacy outside the communication realm of spouses" are defined under the theme of "liquid privacy". Each of the organizing themes are also divided into basic themes
Wives' opinions about control and monitoring in cyber space include 5 organizing themes that are presented as a spectrum. A number of respondents and clients believe that there should be no surveillance by the spouse in their joint life, while others believe that there should be surveillance only regarding "activity on social media". A group of respondents also refer to "wife's media consumption" and emphasize the necessity of monitoring the content consumed by their spouse. A number of respondents also consult with each other and are "open" about sharing family pictures or publishing anything related to family. Finally, some respondents point to the complete and comprehensive monitoring of their spouse's presence in cyberspace.
The structure of social networks is encouraging to be seen and exposed. In this way, many private actions have become public actions. In this situation, private and public affairs do not have clear boundaries. The opinion of some cyberspace users is that everything related to me or us (husband and wife) is our intellectual property and we can expose it to the public, and interfering in this matter is interfering in a private matter. Private action and public action, private matter and public matter, as well as the sense of ownership over publication, are changing concepts. Following the individualization of the actions of family members in the emerging virtual life, it seems that spouses have redefined the concept of privacy and surveillance in the new space and have a new and different encounter with these issues in their joint lives. In this process, the user-husband is renegotiating the clear separation of private and public realms, the existence of privacy versus areas under shared control, and openness to the absence of surveillance. As a result, what emerges are fluid and varied readings of privacy that depend on the platform, the nature of the content, the perceived rights over information, the timeline of the relationship, and the individually negotiated rules and boundaries between spouses.
Keywords
)