Despite the importance of eHealth literacy in the eHealth domain, studies on the antecedents of e... more Despite the importance of eHealth literacy in the eHealth domain, studies on the antecedents of eHealth literacy, especially through a privacy lens, are still limited. Using a door-to-door paper-and-pencil household census of public housing communities in a major American city, this study examines how eHealth literacy varies by digital privacy skills that go beyond frequency of Internet activities among members of such disadvantaged communities. Results show that proficiency in digital privacy skills plays a positive and direct role in influencing levels of eHealth literacy. In addition, proficiency in digital privacy skills mediates the positive relationship between frequency of Internet activities and levels of eHealth literacy. This study offers a refined understanding of eHealth literacy from a privacy perspective.
As the Internet penetration in the United States increases, many digital divide researchers have ... more As the Internet penetration in the United States increases, many digital divide researchers have delved into the parent–child dynamics regarding family digital access and use. However, little attention has been paid to digital parenting in terms of monitoring, guiding, and regulating children's digital lives, especially in the context of disadvantaged communities. As an initial step to fill the critical gaps in related literature, this study casts light on factors that affect the self-efficacy of digital parenting in disadvantaged urban communities. Using a census survey of public housing households in one of the largest public housing authorities in the United States, we found that single motherhood and home Internet access significantly accounted for low–socioeconomic status parents' digital parenting self-efficacy. We also found that parental engagement in children's school activities strongly affected their digital parenting self-efficacy. By contrast, we found that other sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors (i.e., gender, education, race/ethnicity), mobile Internet access, parents' homework help, and educational expectation fail to be contributing factors.
Privacy has become a crucial issue of the digital age, with significant social, political, and ec... more Privacy has become a crucial issue of the digital age, with significant social, political, and economic ramifications. A growing body of literature has dedicated to the patterns, causes, and consequences of individuals' privacy concerns, skills, and practices. Advancing a producer's perspective, this research draws on in-depth interviews with 45 tech entrepreneurs to examine privacy practices of mobile start-ups in the United States. Results reveal (a) factors that contribute to the problematic status of privacy issues and (b) whether and how entrepreneurs leverage privacy management as a competitive advantage. Results show that data are widely seen by entrepreneurs as a potentially profitable asset. Privacy practices are networked and thus pose challenges for privacy management as different parties may have different privacy practices. Fast-moving technologies often leave government regulations behind, making them look outdated or irrelevant to many entrepreneurs. For most start-ups not specialized in identity, privacy, or anonymity service, privacy is neither a core business strategy nor a top concern. Only a few mobile ventures have leveraged privacy management as a competitive advantage and designed their products from the ground up concerned about privacy. Most entrepreneurs adopt a building-the-plane-while-flying-it approach: as business grows, privacy policies and practices would evolve. Many entrepreneurs fail to recognize the significance of privacy policies and practices as they lack the awareness, bandwidth, and capacity. Growth and monetization pressures from investors are perceived as more urgent and important than privacy and security issues. Offering a richer account of the power structure that shapes mobile entrepreneurs’ privacy practices and their challenges of managing privacy in a data driven digital economy, our work advances the existing literature dominated by stories of the individual consumers.
This study carves out a promising theoretical space to investigate how general and specific Inter... more This study carves out a promising theoretical space to investigate how general and specific Internet use may facilitate various returns of social capital by separating the structural embeddedness of social capital from the returns of social capital. Drawing on a randomly sampled survey of adult residents in a major US city, we examine how general Internet use, interacted with network diversity, contributes to various returns of social capital: bonding and bridging, online and offline. We further unpack general Internet use to specific Internet use and explore their relations with the returns of social capital. The results show that general Internet use is positively related to all the online bonding, online bridging, and offline social capital returns, whereas specific Internet use (i.e., informational, participatory, and recreational) is only positively related to online but not offline returns of social capital. Network diversity moderates the relationship between general Internet use and offline returns of social capital.
Little attention has been given to how members of economically, socially, and digitally disadvant... more Little attention has been given to how members of economically, socially, and digitally disadvantaged groups experience privacy. Using a door-to-door paper-and-pencil household census of public housing communities in a major American city, this study examined three layers of digital privacy experiences among public housing residents— privacy concerns, privacy skills, and privacy-compromising activities. Results showed that privacy concerns are one of the major reasons that hinder residents from adopting the Internet. Regression analysis revealed significant gaps in digital privacy skills among residents by generation and by having private Internet access or not. Moreover, higher levels of privacy skills and relatively private Internet access contribute to more frequent engagement in digital activities that can compromise privacy. This research provides valuable insights on how privacy concerns and skills affect digital inclusion in a marginalized population.
Social networking sites (SNSs) are important tools for college students to maintain and develop s... more Social networking sites (SNSs) are important tools for college students to maintain and develop social capital. Yet, few studies on the social implications of using SNSs have focused on international students and their use of different social media platforms for social capital. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the implications of using host country and home country SNSs for social capital among Chinese international students in the United States. A survey of Chinese international students at a large public university (N = 210) reveals that both Facebook and Renren use are positively associated with bridging social capital but not with bonding social capital. Facebook use has a stronger relationship with bridging social capital than does Renren use. Yet, only Renren use has a significant and positive relationship with maintaining home country social capital. These results have practical implications for international students to develop different types of social capital through different social media platforms.
Relatively few studies have examined the social implications of SNSs for various dimensions of so... more Relatively few studies have examined the social implications of SNSs for various dimensions of social sup-port, even though different dimensions of social support can have differential impacts on people’s well-being. This study fills this gap by examining how Facebook interaction is related to various types of social support—enacted receiving and giving social support on Facebook and perceived social support in general. A survey of college students at a large public university in the U.S. reveals that Facebook inter-action is positively related to receiving and giving social support on Facebook. However, neither social interaction nor enacted social support on Facebook is related to perceived social support in general.
Little attention has been given to how members of economically, socially, and digitally disadvant... more Little attention has been given to how members of economically, socially, and digitally disadvantaged groups experience privacy. Using a door-to-door paper-and-pencil household census of public housing communities in a major American city, this study examined three layers of digital privacy experiences among public housing residents—privacy concerns, privacy skills, and privacy-compromising activities. Results showed that privacy concerns are one of the major reasons that hinder residents from adopting the Internet. Regression analysis revealed significant gaps in digital privacy skills among residents by generation and by having private Internet access or not. Moreover, higher levels of privacy skills and relatively private Internet access contribute to more frequent engagement in digital activities that can compromise privacy. This research provides valuable insights on how privacy concerns and skills affect digital inclusion in a marginalized population.
Despite the importance of eHealth literacy in the eHealth domain, studies on the antecedents of e... more Despite the importance of eHealth literacy in the eHealth domain, studies on the antecedents of eHealth literacy, especially through a privacy lens, are still limited. Using a door-to-door paper-and-pencil household census of public housing communities in a major American city, this study examines how eHealth literacy varies by digital privacy skills that go beyond frequency of Internet activities among members of such disadvantaged communities. Results show that proficiency in digital privacy skills plays a positive and direct role in influencing levels of eHealth literacy. In addition, proficiency in digital privacy skills mediates the positive relationship between frequency of Internet activities and levels of eHealth literacy. This study offers a refined understanding of eHealth literacy from a privacy perspective.
As the Internet penetration in the United States increases, many digital divide researchers have ... more As the Internet penetration in the United States increases, many digital divide researchers have delved into the parent–child dynamics regarding family digital access and use. However, little attention has been paid to digital parenting in terms of monitoring, guiding, and regulating children's digital lives, especially in the context of disadvantaged communities. As an initial step to fill the critical gaps in related literature, this study casts light on factors that affect the self-efficacy of digital parenting in disadvantaged urban communities. Using a census survey of public housing households in one of the largest public housing authorities in the United States, we found that single motherhood and home Internet access significantly accounted for low–socioeconomic status parents' digital parenting self-efficacy. We also found that parental engagement in children's school activities strongly affected their digital parenting self-efficacy. By contrast, we found that other sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors (i.e., gender, education, race/ethnicity), mobile Internet access, parents' homework help, and educational expectation fail to be contributing factors.
Privacy has become a crucial issue of the digital age, with significant social, political, and ec... more Privacy has become a crucial issue of the digital age, with significant social, political, and economic ramifications. A growing body of literature has dedicated to the patterns, causes, and consequences of individuals' privacy concerns, skills, and practices. Advancing a producer's perspective, this research draws on in-depth interviews with 45 tech entrepreneurs to examine privacy practices of mobile start-ups in the United States. Results reveal (a) factors that contribute to the problematic status of privacy issues and (b) whether and how entrepreneurs leverage privacy management as a competitive advantage. Results show that data are widely seen by entrepreneurs as a potentially profitable asset. Privacy practices are networked and thus pose challenges for privacy management as different parties may have different privacy practices. Fast-moving technologies often leave government regulations behind, making them look outdated or irrelevant to many entrepreneurs. For most start-ups not specialized in identity, privacy, or anonymity service, privacy is neither a core business strategy nor a top concern. Only a few mobile ventures have leveraged privacy management as a competitive advantage and designed their products from the ground up concerned about privacy. Most entrepreneurs adopt a building-the-plane-while-flying-it approach: as business grows, privacy policies and practices would evolve. Many entrepreneurs fail to recognize the significance of privacy policies and practices as they lack the awareness, bandwidth, and capacity. Growth and monetization pressures from investors are perceived as more urgent and important than privacy and security issues. Offering a richer account of the power structure that shapes mobile entrepreneurs’ privacy practices and their challenges of managing privacy in a data driven digital economy, our work advances the existing literature dominated by stories of the individual consumers.
This study carves out a promising theoretical space to investigate how general and specific Inter... more This study carves out a promising theoretical space to investigate how general and specific Internet use may facilitate various returns of social capital by separating the structural embeddedness of social capital from the returns of social capital. Drawing on a randomly sampled survey of adult residents in a major US city, we examine how general Internet use, interacted with network diversity, contributes to various returns of social capital: bonding and bridging, online and offline. We further unpack general Internet use to specific Internet use and explore their relations with the returns of social capital. The results show that general Internet use is positively related to all the online bonding, online bridging, and offline social capital returns, whereas specific Internet use (i.e., informational, participatory, and recreational) is only positively related to online but not offline returns of social capital. Network diversity moderates the relationship between general Internet use and offline returns of social capital.
Little attention has been given to how members of economically, socially, and digitally disadvant... more Little attention has been given to how members of economically, socially, and digitally disadvantaged groups experience privacy. Using a door-to-door paper-and-pencil household census of public housing communities in a major American city, this study examined three layers of digital privacy experiences among public housing residents— privacy concerns, privacy skills, and privacy-compromising activities. Results showed that privacy concerns are one of the major reasons that hinder residents from adopting the Internet. Regression analysis revealed significant gaps in digital privacy skills among residents by generation and by having private Internet access or not. Moreover, higher levels of privacy skills and relatively private Internet access contribute to more frequent engagement in digital activities that can compromise privacy. This research provides valuable insights on how privacy concerns and skills affect digital inclusion in a marginalized population.
Social networking sites (SNSs) are important tools for college students to maintain and develop s... more Social networking sites (SNSs) are important tools for college students to maintain and develop social capital. Yet, few studies on the social implications of using SNSs have focused on international students and their use of different social media platforms for social capital. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the implications of using host country and home country SNSs for social capital among Chinese international students in the United States. A survey of Chinese international students at a large public university (N = 210) reveals that both Facebook and Renren use are positively associated with bridging social capital but not with bonding social capital. Facebook use has a stronger relationship with bridging social capital than does Renren use. Yet, only Renren use has a significant and positive relationship with maintaining home country social capital. These results have practical implications for international students to develop different types of social capital through different social media platforms.
Relatively few studies have examined the social implications of SNSs for various dimensions of so... more Relatively few studies have examined the social implications of SNSs for various dimensions of social sup-port, even though different dimensions of social support can have differential impacts on people’s well-being. This study fills this gap by examining how Facebook interaction is related to various types of social support—enacted receiving and giving social support on Facebook and perceived social support in general. A survey of college students at a large public university in the U.S. reveals that Facebook inter-action is positively related to receiving and giving social support on Facebook. However, neither social interaction nor enacted social support on Facebook is related to perceived social support in general.
Little attention has been given to how members of economically, socially, and digitally disadvant... more Little attention has been given to how members of economically, socially, and digitally disadvantaged groups experience privacy. Using a door-to-door paper-and-pencil household census of public housing communities in a major American city, this study examined three layers of digital privacy experiences among public housing residents—privacy concerns, privacy skills, and privacy-compromising activities. Results showed that privacy concerns are one of the major reasons that hinder residents from adopting the Internet. Regression analysis revealed significant gaps in digital privacy skills among residents by generation and by having private Internet access or not. Moreover, higher levels of privacy skills and relatively private Internet access contribute to more frequent engagement in digital activities that can compromise privacy. This research provides valuable insights on how privacy concerns and skills affect digital inclusion in a marginalized population.
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digital economy, our work advances the existing literature dominated by
stories of the individual consumers.
digital economy, our work advances the existing literature dominated by
stories of the individual consumers.