Privacy Management Among Social Media Natives: An Exploratory Study of Facebook and Snapchat

Abstract

Guided by communication privacy management theory, this study tested network size, network diversity, privacy concerns, and privacy management practices in and between Facebook and Snapchat for social media natives. A cross-sectional survey of 273 college students (predominately Caucasian, female, 18- to 20 years old) showed that audiences were larger and more diverse in Facebook than Snapchat. Snapchat users with larger friend lists and lower privacy concerns reported more shared boundary ownership, whereas those with more diverse networks reportedly used more open friending practices to expand their connections. Higher privacy concerns were related to more restrictive privacy management practices in both mediums, and participants were overall more open on Snapchat than on Facebook. Theoretical and practical implications were presented in efforts to inform future research.