Passive Communication & Social Networking : Initial Results of Facebook Use and Cyber Stalking in Japan

This study looks into "stalking" and "cyber stalking" as found in the social networking site (SNS) Facebook.It begins by discussing the differences between virtual and terrestrial stalking, whether stalking via Facebook is viewed as problematic, potentially harmful or just a simple form of interaction known as "passive communication."This concept describes communicative messages from a sender to unintended destinations who passively receive the message.This paper focuses on a Japanese population and seeks to learn how they use social networking sites such as Facebook as well as how they feel about potential negative side effects of SNSs, such as online stalking behaviors.Results show Japanese people use Facebook much less frequently than other social networking sites, that they are aware of the problem of cyber stalking but have varied levels of concern and minimal firsthand experience with it.Caveats of this present study as well as ideas to extend this body of research in Japanese populations are also offered."hunt down" any type of person they are looking for, whether it be as a friend, a boy/girl friend, or a social contact for some specific purpose (job hunters, people with shared hobbies, etc.).The desire to make new friends online via social networking sites (SNSs) has increased dramatically in recent years.A social networking site is "an online location where a user can create and share a self-profile, seek and build relationships with other users, and connect to others via personal networks" (Zengyan, Yinping & Lim, 2009).As one researcher notes, "Social networks is the highest growing web-application in terms of users" (Sorensen, 2009, p. 427).But when people seek out others (for whatever reason), they can tend to lose their inhibitions (Chik, 2008).While some people innocently join an SNS to make friends, or find a long lost friend from their school days, others create new "cyber versions" of themselves.This can be in the form of avatars for online gaming or other online personas that allow them to participate in cyber activities.Sometimes true identities are revealed, but sometimes anonymity is kept (for a variety of reasons).In cases where people "hide" behind the perceived security blanket of online anonymity, it sometimes "emboldens people to act as they may not normally Passive Communication & Social Networking: Initial Results of Facebook Use and Cyber Stalking in JapanDamon E. Chapman and Marshall Higa do offline" (Chik, 2008, p. 13).It is in these cases where problems can be found in cyberspace that have negative effects in the real world.In the cyber world, when people are the receivers of communication from others that was not intended for them, they can be said to receive messages via passive communication.This preliminary study investigates whether social networking sites in Japan promote a type of "passive communication" which can lead to an increased level of tolerance of stalking behaviors, such as that which occurs online and is known as cyber stalking.This paper can be considered one step in a longitudinal study of both a Japanese population as well as a U.S. population of subjects who have experienced this phenomenon.In our effort to learn about this growing type of communication and its potential effects on net users, this research strives to better understand the possible dangers that come from joining the very public world of SNSs, which are on the increase in Japan.Through this research, conducted through quantitative methodology, it is hoped that the findings will lead to work that helps reduce the possibility of people being victims of cyber stalking in Japan.The enormous rise of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and the accompanying popularity of social networking sites (SNSs) such as Facebook, has caused much research to focus on this unique way of communicating.Such communication on the Internet is often asynchronous, "meaning messages sent between two individuals may be staggered in time, and individuals have the ability to send, receive, save, or retrieve messages at their own convenience" (Bronander, Urso, Davis, Barko, Hausman & O'Toole, 2009, p.3).That is to say that the response rate (and physical distance) between sender and receiver makes the synchronous nature of traditional face to face communication much different from asynchronous communication that takes place via computers.Mentioned earlier, one of the biggest negative side effects of such asynchronous CMC has been the resulting "hunting" of people via what is now called cyber stalking (cf.Spitzberg & Hoobler, 2002).Research has shown that CMC can create a misperception of reality in some people (Kolek & Saunders, 2008).Cyber stalking has become such a legal nuisance in developed countries that it has been "translated into law in larger jurisdictions with more matured technological infrastructure such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Japan (Chik, 2008, p. 14).The rapid increase in how people use CMC may come from a desire to escape the restrictions of reality.People may say "what I do in the cyber world can never be found by anyone else" so they dive in without fear of consequence.This is done through the use of anonymity.Yet, the boon of anonymity can also be a bane.Even people that have perfectly ordinary profiles and lead ordinary lives offline can display a different personality in the digital realm -something more playful or open, but also sometimes something more sinister, giving in to the temptation of deviant behavior induced by the drug of anonymity (Chik, 2008 ).Computer-mediated communication is a form of technology which allows users total anonymity, and this act of not revealing one's name when using CMC may also decrease one's inhibition when it comes to self disclosure of personal information (cf.Basu & Jones, 2007;Roberts, 2008;Spitzberg & Hoobler, 2002).Pseudo-anonymity allows people to act out their fantasies and to speak or express their innermost thoughts, which can be illegal, offensive or objectionable, that they may be proscribed from doing in real life.They do this under the impression that there are no social repercussions and that they cannot be traced.This stems from a false sense of security against both the detection of identity and the vigilance in enforcement of the law (Chik, 2008).Damon E. Chapman and Marshall Higa excessive use of pagers, etc.).Chapman & Spitzberg (2003) compared U.S. and Japanese populations and found 20.3% of Japanese subjects were persistently pursued.Gender differences showed that 17.9 of all males and 22.2 of females in the Japanese sample indicated they had been pursued in unwanted ways.Japanese victims perceived the behavior they experienced as more threatening"(51.1%)than did their U.S. counterparts (41.2%).Regarding the types of stalking behaviors experienced by the Japanese, the non-physical behavior of sending" affection messages (e.g.romantically-oriented notes, cards, letters, voice-mail, e-mail, messages with friends, etc.) was most prevalent.As for cultural differences between the Japanese and U.S. populations, Japanese reported some physically intrusive behaviors as occurring more frequently.They include sexual coercion, being watched, being physically threatened, being physically hurt and having ones' personal property invaded.These results may help explain why the Japanese felt, overall, that their experiences were more threatening than did U.S. subjects (Chapman & Spitzberg, 2003).Further research by the same authors the next year showed that 26.9% of Japanese reported some type of "unwanted harassment in pursuit of intimacy" (Chapman & Spitzberg, 2004).This body of research by the first author, however, was not directly related to stalking in cyberspace.It did not specifically address computer-mediated communication (such as social networking sites), and stalking behaviors.The problem of stalking in Japan is not going away.One Tokyo police report found that 54% of stalkers waited for and followed their victims, 53% pressured their victims to meet, while 31% called their victims on the telephone but did not say anything.As for the motive, the same report states that for 65% of stalkers, their reason for stalking was emotional attachment to the victim.Another 33% did it because of unreciprocated love, meaning that 98% of all reported cases were driven by feelings of desire (Larkin, 2007).There is little doubt that crimes specifically related to cyber space are increasing in Japan.In 2010, the National Police Agency of Japan stated that cyber crimes are on the rise every year and "more advanced and diversified tactics are being employed" in pursuit of such crime (National Police Agency, 2010, p. 64).Unfortunately, the crime of cyber stalking did not receive any specific attention in that report.The only category of related crime in this realm was called "crimes related to online dating sites."The definition given for those sites is eerily similar to that of normal (i.e.non-romantic) network sites:Websites which render services for people who want to socialize with unknown people of the opposite sex, where relevant information regarding such people is posted on the Internet so that website users can access this information and maintain communication with the concerned person through electronic mail or telecommunication (National Police Agency, 2010, p. 65).

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