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Twitter has a Binary Privacy Setting, are Users Aware of How It Works?

Published: 16 April 2023 Publication History

Abstract

Twitter accounts are public by default, but Twitter gives the option to create protected accounts, where only approved followers can see their tweets. The publicly visible information changes based on the account type and the visibility of tweets also depends solely on the poster's account type which can cause unintended disclosures especially when users interact. We surveyed 336 Twitter users to understand users' awareness of account information visibility, as well as the tweet visibility when users interact. We find that our participants are aware of the visibility of their profile information and individual tweets. However, the visibility of followed topics, lists, and interactions with protected accounts is confusing. Only 31% of the participants were aware that a reply by a public account to a protected account's tweet would be publicly visible. Surprisingly, having a protected account does not result in a better understanding of the account information or tweet visibility.

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  • (2023)How popular is a topic on social media? A multi-criteria decision-making framework based on user engagementKybernetes10.1108/K-05-2023-0884Online publication date: 16-Oct-2023

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cover image Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction  Volume 7, Issue CSCW1
CSCW
April 2023
3836 pages
EISSN:2573-0142
DOI:10.1145/3593053
Issue’s Table of Contents
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Publication History

Published: 16 April 2023
Published in PACMHCI Volume 7, Issue CSCW1

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  1. online social networks
  2. privacy
  3. tweet visibility
  4. twitter

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  • (2023)How popular is a topic on social media? A multi-criteria decision-making framework based on user engagementKybernetes10.1108/K-05-2023-0884Online publication date: 16-Oct-2023

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