User Expectations for Media Sharing Practices in Open Display Networks

TL;DR

This study explores how people's expectations for sharing media on public displays are influenced by content location, personal relevance, and sharing scope.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel framework for understanding user expectations in open display networks through a controlled scenario-based experiment.

Findings

Participants preferred media sharing scenarios where content was local and directly related to the publisher.

Findings contrast with typical public display content, suggesting open display networks could support new forms of self-expression.

The study identifies locativeness and personal relevance as key factors in perceived media sharing utility.

Abstract

Open Display Networks have the potential to allow many content creators to publish their media to an open-ended set of screen displays. However, this raises the issue of how to match that content to the right displays. In this study, we aim to understand how the perceived utility of particular media sharing scenarios is affected by three independent variables, more specifically: (a) the locativeness of the content being shared; (b) how personal that content is and (c) the scope in which it is being shared. To assess these effects, we composed a set of 24 media sharing scenarios embedded with different treatments of our three independent variables. We then asked 100 participants to express their perception of the relevance of those scenarios. The results suggest a clear preference for scenarios where content is both local and directly related to the person that is publishing it. This is in stark contrast to the types of content that are commonly found in public displays, and confirms the opportunity that open displays networks may represent a new media for self-expression. This novel understanding may inform the design of new publication paradigms that will enable people to share media across the display networks.

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