Understanding User Attitudes to Augmenting Face-to-Face Interactions with Digital and Social Media

A recent trend in HCI has been to employ wearable technology (such as Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs)) to help provoke and support face-to-face interaction through the presentation of, usually algorithmically matched, media from user social and digital media accounts. Such approaches could effectively support face-to-face interaction in many situations. However, work fails to consider the existing rich practices in how users manage their identity both face-to-face, and with existing social and digital media services. We present the results of 7 in-depth interviews on how users would wish to employ, manage and present social media in face-to-face encounters over a range of contexts and social relationships. We identified the importance of user control in selecting media, particularly when presenting to strangers, and how users would wish to present media to others. Our work provides guidance on how to more effectively employ existing media in face-to-face interaction.