Navigating the social media privacy landscape: Insights from user experiences

Social media has become one of the most popular and powerful interactive technologies in recent years. However, while the number of social media users has been rapidly increasing and the use of social media provides numerous benefits to its users, recent reports and studies reveal that the use of social media has its challenges such as lack of privacy protections and for some, it may even negatively influence their mental well-being. Although privacy considerations on social media have gained a lot of attention in recent years, there is still a gap in research studies that are focused on how privacy violations on social media may have impacted individuals’ use of social media, their online interactions, and overall mental well-being. The overall research goal of my dissertation is to understand social media users’ information-sharing behaviors, privacy perspectives, and how their personal experiences of privacy violations on social media have impacted them. Specifically, the two studies aim to: 1) Investigate how individual differences, social media usage, and mental well-being influence information-sharing behaviors and privacy perspectives on social media; 2) Examine how forms of interaction (active or passive) affect individuals' use of social media, their information-sharing behaviors, and their attitudes toward social media privacy; and 3). Explore how individuals' experiences of privacy violations on social media relate to subsequent behavioral changes, protective actions, emotional well-being, and overall attitudes toward social media. To investigate the first two research questions, an online survey study was conducted. A total of 700 participants were recruited, and 615 completed responses were collected for further evaluation. Analysis of the survey data reveals several indicators (e.g., social media usage, social media addiction level, form of interactions, mental well-being) that influence their social media information-sharing behaviors and privacy perspectives. To gain a deeper understanding of the users' personal experiences with social media privacy violations, an interview study was conducted with a total of 38 participants. Insights gained from this study indicate that unauthorized data collection and sharing by acquaintances led to many users feeling negative emotions and vulnerability. It further highlighted that while many users adopted protective measures and became more cautious on social media platforms, they remained skeptical about their privacy protections on social media. While this study is the first of its kind and further research needs to be conducted, the aim was to investigate social media’s influences on its users especially as it relates to privacy perspectives. Results from these studies are essential steps toward a better understanding of how privacy violations on social media impact its users and it can also raise public awareness on the importance of protecting personal information on social media. In addition, it can guide social media service providers to appropriately address user’s concerns about privacy and develop user-friendly privacy mechanisms. Furthermore, it can offer recommendations for policymakers on user’s right to privacy when using social media.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Informatics

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Wang, Tian

Contributors dc:contributor

• Bashir, Masooda
• Caughlin, John
• Wang, Yang
• Aboujaoude, Elias

• Social Media
• Privacy

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Tian Wang

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124507

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F124507