This section introduces Social Web Gendered Privacy Model, a new theory to
explain gender differences in privacy concerns and practices in the Social Web. It
argues that there are four key gendered components that impact privacy
concerns–physical security, harassment, social communication skills, and social
communication needs–and that the first two explain gender differences in privacy
concerns, whereas all four are needed to explain gender differences in privacyrelated
behaviors. The theory argues that women have more offline concerns for
their physical security and more risk of harassment, and that these concerns make
using the Social Web a privacy risk. This translates into caution about using the
Social Web and a need to use privacy-protecting strategies (e.g., identity concealment,
limiting access to information, withholding personal details). Nevertheless,
women have communication needs that are particularly well met by the Social
Web, and the Internet’s remote access potentially provides protection from physical
threats and harassment. Thus, women have the greatest incentives to use the Social
Web. Overall, the theory predicts that women will use the Social Web more than
men but be more privacy-conscious when using it. They will also tend to use
services that meet their needs if they can use them in a way that does not greatly
threaten their privacy.