Future studies may also explore the implications of the researchers’ findings. How are users affected when they are unaware of their personal privacy settings on Facebook? What ages are most vulnerable to information violation? What steps can Facebook take to better ensure user awareness of their privacy policy? The possibilities for future investigation are endless, and will only increase as Facebook continues to make updates and modifications to its service.
Overall, the researchers believe that the findings of this research study offer a great degree of social significance. According to Keyton (2011), the social significance of a study is “how the results may actually be applied in real life” (p.198). In this case, the researchers debriefed with the participants of the content analysis in order to inform them of the study’s
findings. Each user was alerted of their true privacy settings, and encouraged to keep up to date with Facebook’s ever-evolving privacy policy. This debriefing benefited the participants by alerting them of the misconceptions they may have about their security on Facebook. It will ultimately grant them greater knowledge of the power of their presence on the social networking site, and allow them to peruse the Facebook service more safely and confidently.