Factors mediating disclosure in social network sites
Introduction
Activity in a networked community can be stimulated by the creation and exposure of user-generated content (Erickson and Kellogg, 2000, Mynatt et al., 1998). In a social network site like Facebook, shared pictures, status updates, and links keep users interested and drive page views. However, user attitudes toward privacy may affect the volume and type of content shared in a social network site (Acquisti & Gross, 2006), which may in turn have implications for social network site vibrancy. For example, a user who is particularly concerned about ownership or privacy of shared data may limit information disclosed in a social network. Users are in good stead to be concerned about information shared in social network sites; harms originating from inadvertent or improper disclosures include legal sanctions (Grimmelmann, 2009), unintentional exposure of personal data (Jernigan & Mistree, 2009), and physical threats including cyberbullying (Palfrey, 2008). Social network site administrators are challenged to implement technologies and policies that address user privacy concerns while enabling the free flow of content. In the design community, researchers are working to create systems that support the sharing of content in a way that reduces potential harms to users (Hawkey and Inkpen, 2006, Nov and Wattal, 2009).
Research by Cranor, Reagle, and Ackerman (2000) explored attitudes towards information disclosure on the Internet. The researchers found that prior attitudes, such as conceptions about the value of identifiers, were important factors in online disclosure. Notably, the researchers also found that transparency (e.g. the posting of a privacy policy) and personal information control were important positive factors in online disclosure. General attitudes about privacy also play a strong role in individual online disclosure practices. If a company sufficiently addresses user privacy concerns, the role privacy concerns play in online disclosure may be mitigated.
In the following study we explore factors that potentially mediate the relationship between privacy attitudes and disclosure behaviors in a social network site, Facebook. As prior research suggests, the relationship between privacy attitudes and disclosure behaviors may be mediated by education about company privacy practices, and by increasing individual control over disclosures (e.g. Ahern et al., 2007, Cranor et al., 2000, Fogel and Nehmad, 2009, Lewis et al., 2008). By controlling the effects of privacy attitudes on disclosure, social network site users may feel free to share content and engage in other community-enhancing behavior (Iriberri & Leroy, 2009). Therefore, it is useful for both designers and policy-makers to understand the relationship between privacy attitudes and disclosure behaviors in social network sites. In this work, we draw on Altman’s (1975) theories of boundary regulation, employing the privacy optimization process to explore if increased knowledge and privacy control potentially mediate the relationship between privacy attitudes and disclosure behaviors.
Section snippets
Literature review
The link between disclosure and privacy attitudes has been explored extensively in communication theory. Altman’s (1975) original theorization of privacy posits a general optimization function, through which individuals attempt to balance the necessary disclosures of communication with individual privacy control mechanisms. The social individual must disclose, Altman argues, but disclosure is inherently tied to practical mechanisms that adjust our disclosures in relation to our privacy
Participants and data collection
Participants were recruited widely from the University of North Carolina (UNC) community through an email solicitation sent to a campus-wide opt-in mass-email listserv. This listserv reaches all students that received informational messages from the university, and allows targeting based on student status. We restricted the sample to undergraduate students that used Facebook, inviting them to follow a link to complete a survey about privacy awareness on Facebook. The survey was hosted on the
Overview
Our analysis follows the model outlined in Fig. 1. We first explore the baseline association between privacy attitudes and disclosure practices (H1). Next, we test the validity of the controls by testing the relationships between the independent variable and the controls (H2 and H3) and between the controls and the dependent variable (H4 and H5). Then, we examine the final model with the controls included (H6).
Fig. 1 indicates the specific hypotheses (H1–H6) we test as part of the analysis.
Benefit analysis
Administrators of social network sites are challenged to address user privacy concerns; in this study, we have explored how privacy behaviors and privacy policy consumption may mitigate privacy concerns. To explore the impact these controls have on disclosure behavior, we present a benefit analysis, using predicted probabilities. Predicted probabilities allow us to demonstrate the impact of a manipulation of a single variable, holding all other values constant. Using the disclosures furthering
Discussion
Social network sites, such as Facebook, thrive on user-contributed content. However, many users report apprehension about the risks that may result from sharing content in social network sites (Acquisti & Gross, 2006). By increasing transparency: educating users about their personal data with a privacy policy, and by providing privacy controls, social network sites may be able to alleviate some of the privacy concerns that affect the contribution of user data to the site. In this paper, we
Limitations and conclusions
There are a number of important limitations of this study. First, the data examined are self-reported, which is a source of potential error. Second, while we utilized a solicitation method that allowed access to a diverse population, a low response rate and evidence of potential gender bias due to nonresponse limits the generalizability of the results. Furthermore, unique aspects of the population studied (college students in the US Southeast) may limit generalization to other colleges. Third,
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