Wouter M. P. Steijn

Information sharing and relationships on social networking sites.

This article investigates the relationship between sharing personal information and relationship development in the context of social networking sites (SNSs). Information disclosed on these sites could affect relationships in a different manner compared to more traditional interactions, such as instant messaging or face-to-face interaction. Respondents in the age range of 12 to 83 were surveyed about experiences of relationship development as a consequence of contact through Facebook or Hyves-the most popular Dutch SNSs. Results showed a primarily positive effect of information sharing on SNSs on our relationships. Furthermore, relationship development mainly occurs among acquaintances and friends, and public posts are most strongly related to relationship development. These findings suggest that SNSs might affect relationships in a distinct fashion as acquaintances and friends gain access to public self-disclosures that might normally only be reserved for close friends and family. Overall, this study provides an insight into some of the positive aspects of the public nature of SNSs in contrast with the general negative associations.

Privacy under Construction A Developmental Perspective on Privacy Perception

We present a developmental perspective regarding the difference in perceptions toward privacy between young and old. Here, we introduce the notion of privacy conceptions, that is, the specific ideas that individuals have regarding what privacy actually is. The differences in privacy concerns often found between young and old are postulated as the result of the differences found in their privacy conceptions, which are subsequently linked to their developmental life stages. The data presented have been obtained through a questionnaire distributed among adolescents, young adults, and adults and provide support for this developmental perspective. This study is one of the first to include adolescents when investigating the privacy concerns among young and old. The results show that the privacy conceptions held by adolescents indeed differ from those held by young adults and adults in keeping with the expectations as seen from a developmental perspective. In addition, the areas in which the differences in privacy conceptions are found also reflect the strongest relationship with concerns. As such, these findings present an alternative perspective to the commonly held notion that young people are less concerned about privacy.

Why concern regarding privacy differs: The influence of age and (non-)participation on Facebook

Young people have obtained a reputation for caring less about their privacy due to their self-revealing presence on social media. Although one might easily be inclined to think that young people do not care about their privacy, an explanation for this could be that young people simply have a different idea of what privacy entails. This study aims to investigate the underlying mechanisms that may explain differences in privacy concerns between younger and older people and between users and non-users of social network sites (SNSs). 1.008 users of SNS and 712 non-users participated in the study with a stratified distribution over adolescents, young adults, and adults. The results show that the difference in perceived risk-benefit balance partly mediates the relationship between use or non-use of SNSs and concern. SNS users are less concerned because they perceive more benefits relative to risks. Concern regarding privacy between young and old was mediated by their differences in privacy conceptions. Older individuals were more likely to associate situations related to personal information with privacy. In turn, these individuals reported more concern regarding their privacy.

A developmental perspective regarding the behaviour of adolescents, young adults, and adults on social network sites

Young people are often seen as a generation that shares too much, too openly online. This paper provides support for taking a developmental perspective to understand individuals behaviour’ on social network sites in the forms of sharing information and the type of contacts. Adolescents, young adults, and adults’ use of social network sites was investigated and compared to developmental expectations based on the needs for relationship development and identity development. Data were gathered by means of an online survey among 1008 respondents in the age range of 12 to 83-year-old. The results showed that adolescents have most contacts and were most likely to add unknown contacts, while young adults disclosed most information and adjusted privacy settings most often. These results match expectations based on adolescents’ and young adults’ greater need for relationship and identity development compared to adults. Implications of these findings in relation to future regulations of online behaviour are discussed.

Privacy concerns, dead or misunderstood? : The perceptions of privacy amongst the young and old

The concept of ‘privacy’ has become an important topic for academics and policy-makers. Ubiquitous computing and internet access raise new questions in relation to privacy in the virtual world, including individuals’ appreciation of privacy and how this can be safeguarded. This article contributes to the debate by reporting survey data relating to the attitudes of adolescents, young adults and adults in the Netherlands in relation to privacy, freedom and security. This data aims at determining the appreciation of privacy amongst young and old. Data was collected through an online survey of 1,002 12 to 83 year-olds in 2012. The results show that adolescents are less concerned about their privacy than young adults and adults. However, all three age categories reported that privacy was a lesser concern than both freedom and security. The article presents important insights into the different attitudes towards privacy amongst the noted age groups, and therefore offers a commentary on their online behaviour. As such, the analysis is relevant for those with responsibility for the governance of individual privacy on the Internet.

The Value of Accountability in the Cloud: Individual Willingness to Pay for Transparency

Within the global cloud market, accountability is needed to help overcome barriers to cloud service adoption. A key inhibitor for movement to software-as-a-service (SaaS) cloud models is lack of consumer trust. ?Potential cloud customers perceive a lack of transparency and relatively less control [on their data] than with traditional models? [1]. One way of introducing accountability in the cloud ecosystem is by means of accountability tools. These tools offer cloud customers more insight in the use (e.g., processing, storage, sharing and deletion) of their data in the cloud. Moreover, they promise to promote responsible data stewardship by both cloud providers and cloud users [2]. However, the economic viability of these tools remains unclear. In fact, it is generally assumed that people are willing to pay for cloud services that would otherwise be free, if these cloud services account for their data processes and these processes are supervised. This article explores the economic viability of one of the accountability tools and mechanisms that account for responsible data stewardship in the cloud, specifically a transparency tool. We explore whether individual cloud customers actually are interested in paying for accountability tools. Thus far, no studies exist to support this claim and the actual willingness to pay among consumers may be significantly lower than is assumed by accountability tool developers. Our investigation uses a sample of lay people and explores their general willingness to pay for a tool that offers them transparency about their data in the cloud and its use by the cloud provider and possible others.

The Role of Informational Norms on Social Network Sites

Still little is known concerning the role informational norms play in regulating the privacy of individuals on social network sites. Considering privacy during social interaction one can identify norms of appropriateness and norms of distribution. This study investigates the adherence to these informational norms on social network sites by young and old users. Data were collected by means of a survey amongst 1002 social network site users, including adolescents, young adults and adults. The results show that the normative expectations associated with a social network site indicate that these sites are considered to be public, that adolescents and young adults primarily differ from adults in their adherence to norms of appropriateness and that a strong relationship is found between informational norms and actual information sharing. It is concluded that the role informational norms play for understanding online behaviour should not be underestimated, but are not yet effective regulators for online behaviour.

Understanding the cloud : The social implications of cloud computing and the need for accountability

Five years ago, cloud computing was one of the top emerging new technologies, nowadays it is almost common place. This rapid introduction of cloud business models in our society coincides with critical questions on the cloud’s risks, such as security and privacy. Moreover, there seems to be an increased demand for accountable behaviour in the cloud. This paper explores how society understands the cloud, its related risks and the need for accountability in the cloud. This exploration provides insight in the social implications of cloud and future Internet services and the way cloud and accountability tools will be adopted in society.

The Cost of Using Facebook: Assigning Value to Privacy Protection on Social Network Sites Against Data Mining, Identity Theft, and Social Conflict

By making use of SNSs, users expose themselves to several potential privacy threats at once, yet little is known in how SNSs users of various ages prioritize their concerns over these different privacy threats. This study makes use of an innovative method will be used to determine the relative importance attributed by SNS users to the protection against three distinct privacy threats they face on SNSs: data mining, identity theft, and social conflict. The results show that even respondents as young as twelve years old appear still attribute most importance to their privacy protection against data mining. Furthermore, the results suggests that respondents generally seek privacy protection that is good enough, avoiding the most obvious privacy violations, as opposed to trying to obtain the best privacy protection. These findings, when considering that participation on SNSs in not necessarily a completely free choice and users generally have little choice or input in their actual privacy protection once participating, indicate that the development of policies to regulate and safeguard SNSs users privacy online may be of prime importance.