Netiquette within married couples: Agreement about acceptable online behavior and surveillance between partners

The internet has become an integral part of many people’s everyday lives. It is unclear what its role is in maintaining intimate offline relationships and whether the use of the internet might cause conflicts between partners about what constitutes acceptable online behavior. An online survey of 920 married couples in the UK who used the internet investigated whether partners have similar netiquettes. There were high levels of agreement between married partners about the unacceptability of online infidelities; similarly they agreed more than two random individuals about the acceptability of entertainment activities which, in excess, might be addictive. Partners further showed high correspondence in surveillance behavior. Women were more concerned about their own and their partner’s behavior and were more likely to monitor their partner’s online activities. These findings suggest that a netiquette is developed and consciously or subconsciously negotiated within intimate relationships. Nevertheless, traditional gender differences as regards risk perception still hold; women are more likely to problematies their own and their partners behaviors.