Year: 2017
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Online social networking sites, such as Facebook, have become an integral part of society –mainly due to a need for \nsocial engagement. Unfortunately, cyber-related crimes have increased owing to individuals displaying their personal \ninformation so freely online. The reported inconsistencies in terms of the associations of different users and user \nactivities in terms of their levels of online privacy served as an impetus for this study. \nAgainst the backdrop of the uses and gratifications theory and the reported inconsistencies from previous studies, \nthe purpose of this study is to investigate how certain socio-demographic variables and activities of Facebook users \nare associated with concerns about information privacy on Facebook. Data was collected through 210 selfadministered \nquestionnaires. \nResults suggest that females are less likely than males to provide accurate personal information on Facebook. \nFurthermore, there was a positive correlation between internet experience and a Facebook user’s privacy concerns. \nThe value of this study lies in understanding the balance between privacy concern and sharing personal information, \nas well as to assist Facebook practitioners in terms of dealing with the issue of privacy for different Facebook users. \nPrivacy concerns also have an impact on a user’s likelihood of implementing advanced privacy settings, and the \nresults from this study may be able to assist Facebook practitioners to minimise the negative consequences of future \nFacebook interactions.
Authors: Yolanda Jordaan, Thinkwell Ndhlovu
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2787190434