The Identity Management Value Model: A Design Science Approach to Assess Value Gaps on Social Media

Threats to the individual identity on social media are real and problematic. Yet, there is a paucity of research on online identity management. We posit that identity management on social media requires a value perspective to determine gaps between what social media users want from online identity management and what social media sites offer through their current security and privacy controls. Following the design science research paradigm, we present an Identity Management Value Model (IMVM). Based on multiple-objectives decision analysis technique, the value model explicates a hierarchy of fundamental identity management objectives and quantifies the achievement of objectives on a social media site. The emergent value scores and value gaps provide an understanding of how well a social media site manages users online identity. We demonstrate the application of the value model for Facebook and assess a set of measures to reduce the value gaps on Facebook. We conducted sensitivity analysis followed by deterministic analysis to evaluate the value model. The evaluation results indicate that the modeling outcome is robust to a range of individual values and preferences. By focusing on individual values, this study extends the research on values in the context of identity management on social media. Social media companies might find the model useful for instituting identity management measures. Individual users could use the model for strategizing about personal identity management. Our study also demonstrates the usefulness of a retrospective design approach, accounting for user values in a principled and comprehensive manner.