{"id":12887,"date":"2018-09-20T10:22:57","date_gmt":"2018-09-20T14:22:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/socialmedialab.ca\/web\/?p=12887"},"modified":"2024-12-11T00:55:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T00:55:00","slug":"unpacking-the-privacy-paradox-users-demand-privacy-yet-continue-to-share-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/socialmedialab.ca\/web\/2018\/09\/20\/unpacking-the-privacy-paradox-users-demand-privacy-yet-continue-to-share-why\/","title":{"rendered":"Unpacking the Privacy Paradox: Users demand privacy yet continue to share, Why?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s getting more and more difficult to make a case for privacy when so many people are willingly sharing so much of their personal information online. Self-disclosure is now currency and digital exhibitionism is a normalized behavior, rewarded and reinforced with likes, shares and favorites across all social media platforms. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people across the <\/span>world<\/span><\/a> and here in Canada (See: <\/span>The State of Social Media in Canada 2017<\/span><\/a>) have fallen in love with the convenience of living out their lives online. But at the same time, people recoil with every privacy scandal and demand more control over their personal information. This phenomenon is often referred to as the \u201cprivacy paradox\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there is currently an ongoing debate among some researchers about the privacy paradox. One group of researchers says it exists (meaning people have privacy concerns but it doesn\u2019t stop them from sharing on social media); and another group of researchers say that there is no such thing as a \u201cprivacy paradox\u201d and that people are engaged in privacy protective strategies, for example, by posting less or posting less accurate information.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a new study, \u201c<\/span>Privacy Concerns and Self-Disclosure in Private and Public Uses of Social Media<\/span><\/i>\u201d, in the journal of Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, researchers <\/span>Dr. Anatoliy Gruzd<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Dr. \u00c1ngel Hern\u00e1ndez-Garc\u00eda<\/span><\/a> attempt to unpack this paradox between users\u2019 attitudes and their behavior (or lack of it) in the context of using social media. Their study examined users\u2019 privacy concerns in the context of public sharing and whether these concerns predict their self-disclosure practices.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The results of their research do not support the presence of a privacy paradox in the context of sharing on social media. Specifically, their research found a relationship between<\/span> two aspects of privacy concerns (concerns about organizational and social threats) and most of the five dimensions of self-disclosure (Amount, Depth, Polarity, Accuracy, and Intent). In other words, a so-called \u201cprivacy paradox\u201d is not observed, at least not in the studied population of social media users in Canada. People are indeed actively engaging in privacy protective strategies by posting less and\/or posting less accurate information, which depends on what they are most concerned about: organizations using their data or other users misusing their data. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The broader implication of this finding for tech companies and other companies wishing to use social media data and content as part of their business is that, even if information is publicly available on social media, users may still have expectation of privacy.<\/span><\/em><\/h4><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The published copy of the paper can be found at the journal of <\/span>Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking<\/span><\/a> website.  You can also access an open access pre-print at the <\/span>Ryerson University Digital Repository<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abstract:<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n