Cynicism as strength: Privacy cynicism, satisfaction and trust among social media users

Abstract

In this era of virtual communication, online user's attitudes towards privacy have attracted the attention of social media researchers and practitioners as they continued to debate whether “online privacy” is an obsolete topic. While some scholars argued that individuals are deeply concerned about their online privacy, others have suggested that despite being cynical about the practises of social media companies, users were happy to disclose personal information in exchange for small rewards. There is consequently a gap between perceptions and practises when it comes to online privacy. Grounded on Expectation Confirmation Theory (ECM), we surveyed 475 social media users to help determine whether privacy cynicism is negatively related to satisfaction and trust in social media. Results indicated that privacy cynicism significantly affected users' satisfaction with social media. However, privacy cynicism did not significantly affect users' trust of social media. This research has important implications for post-technology adoption theories as well as for social media platforms, which would help users better understand public attitudes towards privacy and its impact on their satisfaction.