Development and Analyses of Privacy Management Models in Online Social Networks based on Communication Privacy Management Theory

Abstract

Online social networks (OSNs), while serving as an emerging means of communication, promote various issues of privacy. Users of OSNs encounter diverse occasions that lead to invasion of their privacy, e.g., published conversation, public revelation of their personally identifiable information, and open boundary of distinct social groups within their social network. However, social networking websites seldom support user needs in privacy while users expect experience of privacy management as they do in real life. There is a fundamental discrepancy between natural way of users privacy experience and design of usable privacy in OSNs. In order to understand how people make decisions of their privacy management in OSNs, examination of conceptual structure is needed. The goals of this dissertation are identifying research constructs and developing models of users privacy management behavior, and testing the constructs and the models based on meaningful hypotheses. Throughout analyses, we identified research constructs based on Communication Privacy Management theory, developed a set of causal models showing influence of user traits and perceptions on their behavior of privacy management in OSNs, and tested a set of hypotheses using Structural Equation Modeling. The results indicate that users with collectivistic trait are less likely to manage privacy in OSNs while male users and female users do not show difference. Users are less likely to manage privacy when their motivation of disclosure is self-presentation while they are more likely to manage privacy when it is for communication. In addition, users are more likely to manage privacy when the context of privacy management relates to higher unwillingness to communicate and more active self-disclosure. Our models show that influence to privacy is multi-dimensional and thus, patterns of user behavior in regards to privacy management vary. Established models are significant in that they can be used in various ways; first, they provide users with a basis for educational material of privacy management in OSNs; second, designers of user experience can make reference to the models while designing usable privacy for their services, and; finally, they provide researchers with foundational findings for further research in privacy management in OSNs.%%%%Ph.D., Information Studies – Drexel University, 2013