What Makes Online Identity Durable? Why do some users stick with their online accounts for years while others abandon?
From IIW
Session Topic: Durable Online Identities
Thursday 3G
Convener: Jeff Hughes
Notes-taker(s): Vicki Milton
Goal: Determine the attributes of an account that might make you want to hold onto them for a long time
- Reasons to create an account
- Got a new device and it requires an account
- Want to communicate people -- want an email service
- Forgotten password on previous account (inverse to reason to abandon on previous account)
- Got an anonymous email -- persona expression
- Got a real name -- persona expression
- Changed name -- persona expression
- Required to purchase/download transaction
- Easier to create than to recover an account (where value doesn't justify recovery effort)
- Creates different identity per service to determine where spam is coming from
- Control issue- Uses as a redirector to important, highly protected email
- Reasons to keep the account
- Got the exact name that you wanted
- Data held within the account is of value
- Represents identity well
- Known address to friends
- Has a geo attribute that you can only get in that country
- Access to platform specific services (reuse of a seldom used account)
- Identity is sold off to others -- created ongoing target market persona used by services
- Personal domain that user has lifetime control over (as long as they pay the money)
- Can move personal domain to different mail servers
- Personal name I own
- Tied to history/data/people
- Used email in a research paper and known to other people (long time reference)
- Google account is tied to too many services (calendar, place, android) that limits ability to use
- Persona expression -- uses across similar sites
- Certain types of accounts are more secure or more trustworthy than others (FB vs. Google)
- Can't transfer the storage quota purchased with the account (digital asset tied to the account)
- App licenses
- Content
- Game scores
- Points
- Have developed a trusted relationship with vendor
- Trust brand
- How data is handled
- Tolerance for only a small number of accounts to use/remember
- Reasons to Abandon (stop using)
- Switch devices
- Account compromise/security concerns/trust
- Seldom used accounts may hold data that is public facing and desires to keep visibility but doesn't update
- Community moved away from method -- so moved with community (myspace --> facebook, starting to happen at Facebook)
- Switch to another service (choice or move)
- Forgotten passwords
- The account has lost its utility (Reddit has concept of throwaway account) -- utility is that they are not durable
- Name change that requires a new account
- Public facing name such as email expresses name
- Death
- Created for the purpose of a one-time transaction
- Easier to create than to recover an account (where value doesn't justify recovery effort)
- Desire to start over completely
- Effort to clean up account is too high
- Spam
- Organization ID no longer available (EDU, company)
- Misusing account in marketing campaigns -- not targeting
- Didn't value me as a customer
