Disclosure and Use of Privacy Settings in Facebook<sup>TM</sup> Profiles: Evaluating the Impact of Media Context and Gender

Abstract

The present study examined disclosure and use of privacy settings in online social networking profiles as a function of the media context (i.e., online versus hard copy (paper-and-pencil) Facebook TM profiles). Gender was also examined. Overall, participants disclosed more information when constructing a profile for another person when using a hard copy paper-and-pencil format than an online context. Gender differences were not uniform across media contexts, however, in contrast to traditional disclosure theory, females censored their disclosures more so than males but only for some topics. Only 20% of the sample increased their use of privacy settings. Consistent with patterns of disclosure, descriptive comparison suggests that more settings were employed in the paper-and-pencil than online context and more privacy settings were employed by females.

Digital Inequality Through the Lens of Self-Disclosure

“…Additionally, previous work that analyzed attitudes toward privacy on Twitter [93,94] solely focused on whether users set their accounts private or not, unlike our study which specifically tested for the login verification feature. Still, overall results for RQ1 did not confirm variations of privacy preferences in different SES or demographic populations observed by prior studies [24,25,92,93]. For self-disclosure, our findings suggest that participants' gender and education level statistically affect their information sharing behaviors on Twitter.…”

“…Firstly, statistical analyses on the login verification feature demonstrate that a user's socioeconomic status or demographic factors have no impact on their usage of the privacy protection feature, contradicting our expectations. Previous literature showed conflicting results that gender and age indicators are related to the use of privacy enhancing tools [24,25,92]. Additionally, previous work that analyzed attitudes toward privacy on Twitter [93,94] solely focused on whether users set their accounts private or not, unlike our study which specifically tested for the login verification feature.…”

“…Previous work has reported mixed findings on the differential usage of security features across populations [23]. For example, a study conducted by Nosko, Wood, et al [24] found that women are more likely to utilize available privacy settings online, while another study by Oomen and Leenes [25] found that men are more likely to use these controls. Other works note age as a factor in user engagement with available privacy and security options [25].…”

Does Gender Matter for eWOM Evaluation? A Cross-Cultural Analysis

“…Meanwhile, gender differences in risk taking in e-Commerce research by Bartel-Sheehan (1999), Fogel and Nehmad (2009), and Youn and Hall (2008) found that females perceived greater privacy risks online and reported higher levels of privacy concern than males. In an experimental study, Nosko et. al (2013) showed that males disclosed more personal information online while females employed more privacy settings than males.…”