A Novel Approach to Social Media Privacy Education Through Simulated Role Reversal

Abstract

As social media grows rapidly in both prevalence and scope, the amount of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) shared online has also grown considerably. Unfortunately, many users lack the relevant privacy education and awareness necessary to avoid a growing number of severe threats on these platforms, including but not limited to identity thefts and phishing messages. In this paper, we further previous research into a novel simulation-based approach to social media privacy education and explore utilizing role reversal techniques to further increase user engagement and privacy awareness. By allowing users to pose as identity “hackers” who must investigate simulated content for sensitive information, we actively demonstrate the potential dangers of social media while subtly guiding users towards a safer privacy framework in their own social media usage. We then propose our own system, Digital-PASS, to fulfill this need, and provide a detailed analysis of the implementation and methods of our simulation’s hacker system.