User Experiences with Online Status Indicators

Online status indicators (OSIs) improve online communication by helping users convey and assess availability, but they also let users infer potentially sensitive information about one another. We surveyed 200 smartphone users to understand the extent to which users are aware of information shared via OSIs and the extent to which this shapes their behavior. Despite familiarity with OSIs, participants misunderstand many aspects of OSIs, and they describe carefully curating and seeking to control their self-presentation via OSIs. Some users further report leveraging OSI-conveyed information for problematic and malicious purposes. Drawing on existing constructs of app dependence (i.e., when users contort their behavior to meet an app's demands) and app enablement (i.e., when apps enable users to engage in behaviors they feel good about), we demonstrate that current OSI design patterns promote app dependence, and we call for a shift toward OSI designs that are more enabling for users.