Cybersecurity Awareness and Habits Among Social Media Users: A Survey-Based Study
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Social media platforms are central to everyday communication, but users' security practices do not always correspond to the risks associated with these platforms. This study investigates password reuse, two-factor authentication (2FA), phishing response, prior scam or phishing experience, profile privacy, real-time location sharing, and self-rated security confidence among social media users. An anonymous cross-sectional online survey produced 84 responses during the originally defined three-day collection period. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and an exploratory Pearson chi-square test after transparent item-level data cleaning. Overall, 79.8% of respondents reported reusing passwords at least occasionally. Among 83 valid 2FA responses, 45.8% reported using 2FA, while 15.7% did not know what 2FA was. Among 83 valid phishing-response records, 22.9% reported that they would click the fraudulent link. In addition, 42.9% reported previous scam or phishing experience. Mean security confidence was 3.39/5. Confidence group was not significantly associated with willingness to click the phishing link, χ²(2)=0.558, p=.757.
Author: INGABIRE, RACHEL
Institution: SR University
Language: English
Subfield: Information Systems
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7212395085
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