Everybody wants some: Collection and control of personal information, privacy concerns, and social media use

Abstract

As the utility of social media platforms for interacting with large populations, as well as understanding how they interact, becomes an increasingly interesting area, privacy concerns could present a barrier to engagement. This study employs a survey method to explore social media user frustrations with terms of service agreements and concerns over privacy and personal information shared on them. Findings support that concerns over control, collection, and access to personal information associate with decreased intensity of social media use and correlate to frustration with terms of service agreements regarding personal information use. Given the relationship between use and privacy concerns, leaving privacy concerns unaddressed might also lead to a reduction of use if these concerns continue to grow among users.