What Are You Worrying About on Facebook and Twitter? An Empirical Investigation of Young Social Network Site Users’ Privacy Perceptions and Behaviors

The findings indicate that young users are more concerned about the information they provide to Facebook than Twitter, and implications for advertising on social media and policymaking are discussed.

Abstract

This study examines privacy protection and behavior on two different types of social network sites (SNSs), Facebook (a traditional SNS) and Twitter (a microblogging SNS). This study examines the relationships between privacy concerns and uses of SNSs as well as between privacy concerns and uses of privacy protection on SNSs. The findings indicate that young users are more concerned about the information they provide to Facebook than Twitter. Users worry more about information on those sites being accessed by parents, teachers, or other people with authority roles than by those they know less about, such as marketers, advertisers, and those in distant relations. This study discusses implications for advertising on social media and policymaking.