Availability Management, Self-Presentation, and Wellbeing: Key Concepts and Theories

What is availability management?

Behavior aimed at shaping other people's perceptions of whether you are reachable for social interaction and willing to grant attention. It concerns perceived availability, not just whether you are literally free. availability

What did co-presence traditionally do for availability?

It governed availability through physical location: people could generally interact only with those who were physically nearby. availability

How does mediated communication change co-presence?

It decouples availability from physical location. A person can be physically absent yet communicatively reachable, so availability must be actively managed. availability

What is a gatekeeper in availability management?

A person who controls access to someone else, regulating who can reach that person and when. availability

What did Robin Dunbar's primate example illustrate?

Availability management is not uniquely digital or uniquely human: high-ranking female primates can have subordinates who control access to them. availability

What is a butler message?

An availability-management message used to soften, justify, or manage an interaction—for example, "I have to leave at 8." It need not be deceptive. availability

What is a butler lie?

A butler message the sender knows is false and uses with an intention to deceive, often to manage an unwanted interaction politely. availability

What two conditions make a false butler message a lie?

The sender must know the statement is false and intend to deceive. Mere inaccuracy or an honest mistaken prediction is not enough. availability

A student says "I have an early meeting" to leave a party, knowing there is no meeting. What is it?

A butler lie: it manages availability through a statement the sender knows is false and intends the receiver to believe. availability

A student says "I have an early meeting," genuinely believing it, but the meeting is cancelled. Is it a butler lie?

No. The statement turned out false, but the sender did not know it was false or intend deception. availability

Why can butler lies serve a relational role?

They can soften refusals, exits, and unavailability in ways that let both parties preserve face rather than confront a blunt rejection. availability

What did Reynolds et al. (2013) study?

Butler lies in texting, including how senders use them and how receivers interpret or detect them. availability reading

What did Reynolds et al. find about detecting butler lies?

Receivers are often inaccurate at detecting them. A message's relational usefulness does not guarantee that its truthfulness is easily judged. availability reading

What is the key exam clue for availability management?

Look for someone managing how reachable, attentive, busy, or willing to interact they appear to another person. availability

What is displacement theory?

The idea that a dose of screen time can replace other activities that may contribute more to well-being, such as exercise or in-person socializing. wellbeing

What question operationalizes displacement theory?

"What could the person be doing instead if the screen were not there?" Compare screen use with the foregone alternative activity. wellbeing

Does displacement theory say all screen use is automatically harmful?

No. Its claim is about what screen time displaces. Its usefulness is limited when screens are integrated into another meaningful activity, but one can still ask what alternatives remain foregone. wellbeing

How should you analyze FaceTiming while walking using displacement theory?

Do not stop at "it combines exercise and connection." Ask what the person could otherwise do without the screen—such as attend to their surroundings or have a different form of interaction. wellbeing

What is the Goldilocks Hypothesis of digital technology use?

The claim that the association between digital-screen use and well-being is non-linear: moderate use can be compatible with or beneficial for well-being, while very low and very high use are associated with worse well-being. wellbeing

What shape describes the Goldilocks Hypothesis relationship?

An inverted-U / concave-down quadratic relationship: well-being is highest around a moderate "just right" level rather than changing in one direction at every level of use. wellbeing

Who tested the Goldilocks Hypothesis in the assigned reading?

Andrew Przybylski and Netta Weinstein (2017). wellbeing reading

What was the scale of Przybylski and Weinstein's Goldilocks study?

A very large sample of English adolescents: 120,115 participants. wellbeing reading

What did the Goldilocks study find across types of screen use?

The non-linear pattern held across weekdays and weekends and across television, gaming, computer, and smartphone use. wellbeing reading

How does the Goldilocks Hypothesis complicate displacement theory?

Displacement theory foregrounds what screens replace; Goldilocks says that moderate use need not be harmful and may fit within a balanced, connected life. They can both matter, but neither implies a simple "all screens bad" conclusion. wellbeing

What is the practical implication of the Goldilocks Hypothesis?

Do not assume that minimizing use is always best. Evaluate whether use is excessive, what it displaces, and whether a moderate level has social or practical value. wellbeing

What is self-disclosure?

Revealing personal information, preferences, feelings, or experiences about oneself to another person. impression

What is self-presentation?

Managing the impression other people form of you by selecting, emphasizing, or framing information about yourself. impression

How can you tell self-disclosure from self-presentation on an exam?

Self-disclosure is cued by revealing what one genuinely likes, feels, or has experienced. Self-presentation is cued by tailoring a claim to shape an audience's impression. impression

Victor tells a new roommate he likes loud angry music even though his friends dislike it. What concept is cued?

Self-disclosure: he reveals a personal preference despite its likely lack of social appeal. impression

If Victor says he likes loud angry music because he learned his new roommate is in a heavy-metal band, what concept is cued?

Self-presentation: the statement is tailored to create a favorable impression with a specific audience. impression

What is the ideal self?

Who you aspire to be—your internally held goals, values, or preferred version of yourself. impression

What is the ought self?

Who other people expect you to be—the external expectations, duties, or standards placed on you. impression

What is the core distinction between ideal self and ought self?

Source of the standard. Ideal-self goals are internal to the person; ought-self standards originate in others' expectations. impression

Can ideal self and ought self overlap?

Yes. A person may internalize meeting others' expectations as an aspiration, but frequent co-occurrence does not make the two concepts identical. impression

What does "correlation is not co-definition" mean in this course?

Things that often occur together are not necessarily the same underlying concept. For example, ideal and ought selves may overlap but remain analytically distinct. impression

A person conforms to everyone's expectations but wishes they were bolder and more independent. What does this show?

Their observed behavior may follow the ought self while their ideal self differs. Conforming behavior alone does not prove the ideal and ought selves are the same. impression

What is impression management?

Strategic management of information and cues so that others form a desired impression of one's identity, qualities, or social standing. impression

What was the focus of Ellison, Heino, and Gibbs (2006)?

How online daters use self-presentation strategies while trying to find romantic partners in an online dating environment. impression reading

What method did Ellison et al. (2006) use?

Qualitative telephone interviews with 34 active users of a large online-dating site. impression reading

What tension did Ellison et al. find in online dating profiles?

Participants balanced pressure to manage impressions favorably with a desire to present an authentic sense of self. impression reading

How did online daters in Ellison et al. use the ideal self?

They often constructed profiles that reflected an ideal self—the person they wanted to be or wanted to present—while negotiating authenticity concerns. impression reading

What theory did Ellison et al. provide empirical support for?

Social Information Processing (SIP) theory: people can develop social impressions and relationships through the cues available in mediated communication. impression reading

What is warranting?

The process of giving or seeking evidence that makes an identity or self-presentation claim more or less believable. impression

What is a warrant?

Evidence used to evaluate whether a claim about a person is likely true. A warrant supports the credibility of a self-presentation claim. impression

What is the central test of warrant strength?

How difficult would it be to produce the evidence without the claimed trait or relationship being true? More claimant control generally means easier fakery and a weaker warrant. impression

What makes a warrant strong?

Evidence that is difficult for the claimant to fabricate or control and is tightly connected to the precise claim being evaluated. impression

What makes a warrant weak?

Evidence the claimant can easily select, rehearse, edit, fabricate, or produce even if the claim is untrue. impression

Does warrant strength depend only on whether information is public?

No. The key issue is control and difficulty of faking, in relation to the specific claim. Publicity alone does not establish strength. impression

Why must you specify the claim before judging a warrant?

The same evidence can be strong for one claim and weak for another. You must ask exactly what it is meant to prove. impression

A person claims "I am organized because I finish tasks on time." When is this a strong warrant?

When timely completion would be difficult without being organized. If many other routes could produce timely completion, it is weaker evidence of organization. impression

A politician's rehearsed press release is usually what kind of warrant?

Weak: the politician has high control over wording and rehearsal, so it is comparatively easy to produce regardless of the truth of the claimed quality. impression

Why are impromptu answers often stronger warrants than scripted answers?

They are harder to rehearse and control, so it is harder to manufacture a consistent performance of the claimed trait. impression

What are cues given?

Deliberate, controlled signals people use to present themselves—for example, selected photos, profile statements, and carefully written captions. impression

What are cues given off?

Signals that are less deliberately controlled and may reveal information incidentally—for example, grammar patterns, response timing, login information, or third-party talk. impression

How do cues given and cues given off relate to warranting?

People scrutinize both for evidence of authenticity. Cues given are typically easier to control; cues given off can serve as stronger evidence when they are harder to manipulate. impression

Is a candid photo automatically a strong warrant?

No. First identify the claim. It can be stronger evidence of closeness if the setting is intimate and hard for a non-close friend to access; it may still be easy to stage in another context. impression

What makes a photo a stronger warrant of a close friendship?

An intimate, exclusive, or difficult-to-access context that would be hard for a non-close acquaintance to obtain or convincingly stage. impression

How do deepfakes affect the warranting framework?

They can change which evidence is easy to fake, but they do not eliminate warranting. People adapt by relying on other, harder-to-control cues, including third-party accounts or gossip networks. impression

Why is gossip a cue given off?

The target does not fully control what others say about them, so third-party reputation information can function as less controllable evidence. impression

What is a recursive norm?

A norm that moves incrementally as people adjust to what others do; each act of conformity raises or shifts the standard that later people feel compelled to meet. recursion

What makes a norm recursive rather than ordinary social influence?

The feedback loop changes the norm itself over time. Each person's adaptation becomes a new, more demanding baseline for others. recursion

What does "recursive" mean in recursive norms?

The process loops back on itself: behavior responding to a norm alters the norm that later behavior responds to. recursion

What is the club-selectivity example of a recursive norm?

Students prefer clubs that appear exclusive; clubs reject more applicants to appear exclusive; this raises the perceived standard, undermines less-exclusive clubs, and can leave many students without a club. recursion

Why can recursive norms produce collectively bad outcomes?

Following the moving norm can be individually rational for each actor, even though the aggregate outcome is unwanted by everyone. recursion

What is the key exam clue for recursive norms?

Look for an escalating feedback loop where people respond to others' behavior and thereby push the standard farther in the same direction. recursion

What is the Gulf of Execution?

The gap between intending an action and being able to carry it out through the technology. It asks: "If I intend to do something, how easy is it to do?" design psychology

What is the Gulf of Evaluation?

The gap between taking an action and understanding the system's current state or outcome. It asks: "Now that I acted, how easy is it to tell what happened or whether it worked?" design psychology

What is the fastest way to distinguish the two gulfs?

Before action = Gulf of Execution. After action, when interpreting results or system state = Gulf of Evaluation. design psychology

What is an example of a large Gulf of Execution?

You know exactly that you want to print a document, but the required sequence of tools and steps makes it difficult to perform the intended action. design psychology

What is an example of a large Gulf of Evaluation?

After trying to connect to the internet, you cannot tell whether Wi-Fi is down, cellular is unavailable, or airplane mode is on. design psychology

Why can automation create a Gulf of Evaluation tradeoff?

Automation can make intended action easy, reducing the Gulf of Execution, while hiding what the system is doing and making its status or progress difficult to interpret. design psychology

What is an affordance in the course's intended sense?

Something easy to do with an object or technology where that ease is obvious to the user. design psychology

What two features define an affordance?

The action is easy and its possibility is obvious. design psychology

Are affordances fully objective?

No. What is easy and obvious can differ by education, culture, experience, and physical ability. design psychology

What is the design rule derived from affordances?

If you want users to take an action, make that action easy and obvious—large enough, reachable, visible, and naturally inviting. design psychology

What does "people do first, ask questions later" mean for affordance design?

Do not rely on users reading instructions before acting. If you offer an obvious action, people will likely try it even if instructions say not to. design psychology

What is a mental model?

A person's deeper, more complex belief about how a system works. It organizes expectations beyond one immediate action. design psychology

How do affordances differ from mental models?

An affordance concerns an immediate, obvious action-effect possibility (for example, "this is a button I can push"). A mental model is a broader belief about the system's underlying operation. design psychology

A website button looks pressable but produces no response. What concepts could be involved?

The visible, pressable quality concerns an affordance; the user's broader expectation of how the system should process the action concerns a mental model. On the exam, use the clue about immediate action versus system-level belief. design psychology

What is social distance/proximity research's central claim about collaboration?

Physical separation reduces voluntary, informal interaction and collaboration because proximity increases chance encounters and low-cost coordination. proximity

What approximate distance marks a steep drop in daily contact and spontaneous workplace interaction?

Roughly more than 30 meters apart. proximity

Why does co-location help collaboration?

It creates chance encounters, informal conversation, familiarity, social impact, and easy coordination that are less likely when people are physically separated. proximity

Which authors are associated with the course's proximity and collaboration research?

Sara Kiesler and Jon Cummings synthesize work including Kraut, Fussell, and Brennan on distance, communication, and collaboration. proximity

What is the core policy question behind phone bans in schools?

Whether reducing access or use during school actually improves the desired outcomes—such as learning, behavior, social interaction, or well-being—rather than merely reducing visible phone use. phoneban

What did the UK study reported in class find about phone bans and test scores?

Bans increased test scores by about 6.4%, with the largest gains among lower-achieving students. phoneban

What did the U.S. multi-university study reported in class find about phone bans and academic performance?

The overall effect was close to zero, with a small positive effect in high school and a slightly negative effect in middle school. phoneban

What did the 2025 school-phone-ban study reported in class find about well-being?

Bans reduced in-school phone use by about 40 minutes but found no significant difference in overall mental well-being, consistent with use shifting to non-school hours. phoneban

What did the class material report about phone bans and discipline/attendance?

Suspensions initially increased, especially among Black students, before disciplinary effects faded after a year; absenteeism was reduced. phoneban

Why is "phone use fell at school" insufficient evidence that a phone ban worked?

It only establishes a change in the immediate behavior. The policy must be evaluated on the ultimate outcomes it claims to improve and on possible displacement to other times or harms. phoneban

How could you evaluate a phone-ban policy rigorously?

Compare outcomes before and after the policy and, where possible, against comparable schools or dining halls without the ban. Measure the claimed outcomes—well-being, social interaction, learning, attendance—not only screen minutes. phoneban

How can displacement theory inform a phone-ban hypothesis?

Predict benefits only if phone use displaces more beneficial activities such as attention, in-person interaction, exercise, or learning; then measure whether those alternatives actually rise. phoneban

How can the Goldilocks Hypothesis inform a phone-ban hypothesis?

Predict that removing all use may not maximize well-being if moderate, purposeful use is beneficial. Test whether the policy moves students toward or away from a balanced level of use. phoneban

What does "concepts are bricks, not peanut butter" mean for exam answers?

Use each concept within its boundaries rather than stretching a favorite term to fit every scenario. Identify the specific clue that makes the concept applicable. exam

What is the course's multiple-choice strategy for ambiguous-looking concepts?

Locate the word, phrase, timing, or situation that clearly cues the intended concept; the instructor says questions will not rely on messy borderline cases. exam

What is the recommended short-answer strategy?

Give advice or a hypothesis using several relevant concepts, then propose a way to evaluate the claim or policy rather than simply asserting an outcome. exam