Name:Debbie Mpho

Surname:Nzimande
Student Number: 2020250367
Module Code: COMM2614
Assignment 2
Due Date: 02 May 2024
Introduction

The five core principles of communication privacy management theory were

developed by Sandra Petronio in early 2000. They were developed to make us
understand how individuals handle privacy concerns in their relationships.
(Sandra,2000).This essay will discuss and explain the five principles and give a
detailed explanation of my own experience with what’s app groups, and whether they
had a positive or negative impact in my life.

The first principle is ownership and control of private information.We consider

the information to be our own, so we regard it as that. It’s the conviction that one has
a legal claim to their own personal data. (Griffin, 2009)By thinking that having
ownership entails having control or obligations in addition to rights, we assume the
authority to decide who has access to our personal information because we own it.
The constitution guarantees everyone the right to privacy regarding all factors of their
lives. Even when we are unable to hide it in public, our lives are private. In my own
experience with WhatsApp groups I have often made sure that I allow only the
people in my contact list to see my profile picture or for them to be able to message
me.

This had a positive impact in my life because it meant I was in control of who I let
into my private life or who had access to me (Griffin,2009).This influenced my
keenness to sign-up for another WhatsApp group based on the social exchange
theory, which is how we view our relationships with others based on whether it costs
us or benefits us more. It benefited me to sign up for WhatsApp groups that were
being created for school or family gatherings , because I had the control over who
can see me communicate and who can’t. I was able to keep a distance from the
people I didn’t want knowing about my private life, while I was able to attain the
information I need for school or about my family.

The second principle is there are rules for concealing and revealing information.
People control their private information by drawing privacy boundaries. This helps
individuals feel like they have control over their private information (Griffin,
2009).There are also five factors that contribute towards the way we create our
privacy rules: Culture, gender, motivation and disclosure. Our values differ according
to culture on how much we are open or discreet about our information. With respect
to gender males and females are more likely to open up about private information to
the person of the same gender, rather than to each other. With motivation liking and
attraction as interpersonal motivates can lead to to the loss of privacy boundaries,
which is how some privacy rules are breached. These factors play an important role
to how one creates their privacy rules.

In my own experience with WhatsApp groups, there’s only a certain number of

people who can add me into a WhatsApp group, which is the people I have
relationships with like friends and family. ( West and Tuner. 2009)I have established
a rule that if we do not have a relationship than you will not be able to gain access to
me in terms of my life. This helps me have positive impact to how I have control over
what I can reveal or conceal when it comes to sharing to individuals on WhatsApp
groups. It influenced my keenness to for WhatsApp groups because it meant I didn’t
have to fear that my private information would be compromised because I had set
privacy rules with the people in my life, based on the social exchange theory which is
the cost of weighing if I benefit from creating privacy rules or if I lose a great deal. It
benefited me because I had established rules to how to protect myself in case
someone tries to other side of the boundaries I have established.

The third principle is the act of disclosing private information, creates a

confidant or co-owner. This means that the confidant is drawn into a collective
privacy boundary, whether they wanted to willingly or they are forced(Griffin, 2009).
The confidant has a responsibility to some extent to conceal the information they are
told in private, although they may not view it has much of a responsibility for them,
because they don’t view it as theirs. In my own experience with WhatsApp groups it
made me rely on those who knew my private information as confidants, because it
meant they knew some things about me that others didn’t know about me. These
experiences had a positive impact on my life because I could trust that whatever I
said to my confidant in private, will remain private because they also had the
responsibility to ensure that my privacy was not breached.

That influenced my keenness to join other WhatsApp groups based on the social
exchange theory, which is how we as humans look at whether something will benefit
or cost us more(West and Tuner,2009).. It benefited me because my privacy has
never been breached and I was able to trust that it would not happen if I joined other
WhatsApp app groups because I had established confidants. Who also felt like it was
their responsibility to protect my privacy willing.

The fourth principle is that it coordinates mutual privacy boundaries. Confidants

or co-owners of the private information need to establish or come to an agreement
with rules about the information that they are now aware of (Griffin, 2009)There are
three things that need to be agreed upon: boundary ownership, boundary linkage
and boundary permeability. This make sure that owns keep peace and harmony
between them.
With boundary ownership the owner has a higher stand to ensure they keep the
information private, while the co-owners keeps the information private according to
how the original owner keeps the privacy rules created. Boundary linkage is the rules
established by both the owner and co-owner on who should know the information.
Boundary permeability refers to how boundaries allow the information to get to third
parties.

In my own experience with WhatsApp groups rules between me and the people who
were able to have access to me on WhatsApp groups were established. Each party
new what was expected of them with regards to the information they knew. We were
not allowed to pass it on to others, without the consent from the owner. These
experiences had a positive impact on my life because it meant I could feel safe
disclosing certain rules knowing that it can not be told or shared with outside parties.
This influenced my keenness to join other WhatsApp groups based on the social
exchange theory which is analysing how I stand to benefit or lose from the
relationship I build (West and Tuner, 2009). II gained because I could trust the
people around me for as long as I could keep my private information to myself. And if
I didn’t do that it would mean that I should not expect the same from my co-owners
because the information belonged to me.
The last principle of the communication privacy management theory is boundary
turbulence. Turbulence is the result of what happens when boundary turbulence
fails. It is a result of conflict in the way confidants control and regulate the flow of the
private information by telling third parties (Griffin, 2009)Trusted may be breached
between the owner and co-owner. Although it may not sometimes be intentional, the
private information could have been shared by mistake or it could be intentional,
which is usually done to hurt the owner. In my own personal experience with
WhatsApp app groups if a confidant I trusted with my private information breaches
the trust between us by sharing it with other people, it lead to us not having a
relationship. This had a negative impact in my life because it has lead to me being
picky and closed off to a lot of people about sharing sensitive information.

It influenced my keenness to join WhatsApp groups according to the social exchange

theory (West and Tuner, 2009)which is assessing what I stand to gain or lose from
maintaining certain relationships. I stand to have lost because it meant my privacy
was violated by people I trusted the most. It meant that I had to put my guard up next
time and not trust everyone around me.

Conclusion

The principles of communication privacy management theory teach us that it is

important that we only share private information with the people we trust(Griffin,
2009). It also explains how we hold our private information co-owners to high
standard and think that it a huge responsibility for them to ensure they never disclose
our information. Although to a larger extent boundaries could be breached leading to
own information being shared with third parties we would otherwise have them not
know. Sometimes information is shared by mistake and sometimes it’s just a way of
others to hurt us because they know how we would feel if it was shared with people.
It is also important to asses how certain relationships benefit us before we invest too
much into making them work.
Reference list

1. Griffin, EM. (2009) A first look at communication theory. 8th edition. Wheaton
College.
2. West, R., & Tuner, L.H. (2009). Understanding interpersonal communication:
Making choices in changing times. Boston: Wadsworth/ Cengage.