Abstract
This study explored the relationship between changing privacy policies on social networking site
Facebook and its users’ awareness of the personal privacy settings they have in place. The intricate and constantly changing privacy policies on the site require users to be extremely attentive to its updates in order to retain a true awareness of personal privacy settings. When users are unaware of these settings, the content and personal information they post could potentially be accessible by larger audiences than initially intended. This phenomenon is particularly critical in an age where social media—specifically Facebook—has become one of the most prominent forms of day-to-day communication. This research study utilized a 25 question survey to gauge the opinions and perceptions of Facebook users ages 18 and older.Upon completion of the survey, respondents were given the option to participate in a content analysis in which personal Facebook identification numbers were provided to the researchers. The researchers reviewed the respondents’ Facebook profiles to determine if the perceived settings reported were consistent with the respondents’ actual personal privacy settings. These - results were then compared to users’ awareness of Facebook’s changing privacy policies to determine if a relationship existed, and to ultimately answer the research question.
Keywords: Facebook, online privacy, social media, changing privacy policies, privacy awareness