You are cordially invited to join us for the Dissertation Defense of Norah Abokhodair. Below, you will find the dissertation abstract and the Supervisory Committee.

Title: Transnational Saudi Arabian Youth and Facebook: Enacting Privacy and Identity

Abstract: Theories of privacy and identity in relationship to the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) have been a topic of research for decades. However, little attention has been paid to the perception of privacy and identity from the perspective of Muslim Arab technology users. Privacy and identity in the context of the Arab world is highly influenced by the Islamic religion and the deeply rooted Bedouin cultural traditions. I examined the use of social media, specifically, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, by 34 transnational Saudi Arabian young adults (ages 18-35). The aim was to understand how transnationals conceptualized and enacted privacy and self-presentation during back-and-forth movement from Saudi Arabia to the United States. Specifically, I employed a qualitative cross-sectional approach from three different points in their transnational experience: before coming to the US, during their time in the US and after their return to Saudi Arabia upon graduation. Resisting the culturally hegemonic form of privacy, this study provided culturally-inclusive design insights from an understudied user group to address some of the problematic privacy models in social media design. I also provided empirical data that revealed new findings regarding Saudis’ sense of privacy and identity, their concerns with the design of current digital media technologies, and how they appropriate these platforms to serve their own privacy and identity needs.

My study involved the development of what I called design sessions: they included a background questionnaire, in-depth interviews, and a collage construction activity. This method was powerful in eliciting value conceptualization, concerns, and emotions that I synthesized through a thematic analysis of the 34 face-to-face design sessions with Saudi men and women. I used this qualitative approach to provide a deeper, more nuanced understanding of this understudied, and often misunderstood, population in design and research. My dissertation addresses three research questions: 1) How do Saudi youth conceptualize privacy (and other important/related values) while using social media during their transnational experience? 2) What are their privacy concerns? And what workaround do they currently employ to protect their privacy? 3) What design insights and principles might guide the technical and policy design of culturally-sensitive technologies? My dissertation goals are threefold: 1) Enrich and expand the understanding of privacy with regards to social media in an Arab Context by using the transnational analytical lens; 2) Offer technology designers and policy makers culturally sensitive design principles that incorporate previously unexplored characteristics of privacy; 3) Finally, my aim is to extend the studies of human values and technology appropriation to include Arab versus Western cultures, and to clarify the bidirectional effects of technology, privacy, and cultures: social shaping of technology and social impact.

Supervisory Committee:
David Hendry (iSchool), Chair
Katie Davis (iSchool), Member
Elizabeth Churchill (ACM), Member
David McDonald (UW Human Centered Design & Engineering), GSR