The literature has highlighted the importance of overcoming privacy concerns in order to
achieve trust in an online context. The question emerges as to whether the issues regarding
privacy on the social networking site Facebook has caused trust levels to suffer as a result.
A study conducted by Acquisti and Gross (2006), during the early stages of Facebook,
reveals users’ trust in Facebook was greater compared with members of other social
networking sites like Friendster and MySpace. This finding is supported by Dwyer et al.
(2007) who note higher trust levels on Facebook in comparison with MySpace. However,
Facebook’s business model has changed from its original format which was the focus in
the Acquisti and Gross (2006) and Dwyer et al. (2007) studies. Facebook’s original model
was based on a closed system for university and college use, and control and privacy were
at the heart of the social networking structure. Rothery (2010: 24) makes reference to Kurt
Opsahl, a senior legal representative at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a digital
rights advocacy and legal organisation, who said: