article

Teens' concern for privacy when using social networking sites: An analysis of socialization agents and relationships with privacy-protecting behaviors

Authors:

Yang Feng,

Wenjing XieAuthors Info & Claims

Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 33

Pages 153 - 162

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.01.009

Published: 01 April 2014 Publication History

Abstract

U.S. teens are spending substantial time on social networking sites (SNSs). Yet, only a few studies have documented teens' privacy-protecting behaviors on SNSs. Using data of Facebook teen users and their parents in the U.S. from the Pew Internet's Teens & Privacy Management Survey (N=622), this study investigated the socialization agents of teens' level of online privacy concern, and the relationship between teens' level of online privacy concern and their privacy-protecting behaviors on SNSs. Based on path analysis results, this study identified parents and SNS use as the two significant socialization agents. In particular, this study revealed the role of parents' privacy concern and the role of SNS use in motivating teens to increase online privacy concern, which, in turn, drives teens to adopt various privacy-setting strategies on SNSs and to set their Facebook profiles to private. Implications for policymakers and educators were discussed.

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Teens' concern for privacy when using social networking sites: An analysis of socialization agents and relationships with privacy-protecting behaviors

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Reviews

Reviewer: Gopal K. Gupta

Privacy in social networks is an area of active research. Teenagers are an important group of users since they spend a substantial amount of time using such sites. This paper examines the behavior of teenagers aged 12 to 17 and the role of their parents in helping protect their privacy. The data source used for the analysis was drawn from the recent Teens and Privacy Management Survey conducted by Princeton Research Associates International. The telephone survey was conducted using landline and cell phones. The total sample consisted of 802 parents and their 802 teens aged 12 to 17. The parents (64 percent female) were interviewed first, and then a subsequent interview with a teenager living with the parent was conducted. The teens were filtered out if they were not using a networking site like Facebook. As a result of filtering, 622 teen respondents remained. The authors found that a majority of teens had deleted people from their network of friends list, some had deleted comments others had made on their profiles, and some had also blocked people. It is concluded that voluntary disclosure of personal information by teenagers on sites like Facebook is difficult to curb. The authors investigated the influences of parental mediation and social network usage and found that parents were more concerned about their children's online data. This concern appears to have a strong relationship with the children's privacy concerns. The authors also found that there was a relationship between social network usage and the development of user understanding of consumer aspects of the social networks. The results of the study are interesting, although not very surprising. It should be of interest to people studying the behavior of the younger users of social networks. Online Computing Reviews Service

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Computers in Human Behavior Volume 33, Issue

April, 2014

382 pages

ISSN:0747-5632

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Elsevier Science Publishers B. V.

Netherlands

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Published: 01 April 2014

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Ma RZhang ZGui XKou Y(2024)Labeling in the Dark: Exploring Content Creators’ and Consumers’ Experiences with Content Classification for Child Safety on YouTubeProceedings of the 2024 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3643834.3661565(1518-1532)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2024
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Cited By

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Recommendations

Uses and gratifications of social networking sites for bridging and bonding social capital

Parents' of adolescents use of social networking sites

Examining Mobile SNS Continuance from a Dual Perspective of Social Capital and Privacy Concern

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