How Much for My Name? Privacy Perceptions and Motivations for Sharing Personal Information on Social Networking Sites

Abstract

This study surveyed young adults in order to study their attitudes toward what personally identifiable information they deemed private and what they hoped to gain from sharing personal information on social network services.  Respondents chose telephone numbers, home addresses, search history, date of birth, and online purchases most often as personal information they felt was private. As far as motivations for sharing this information, users seeking to manage friendships or entertainment on social networks were found to also spend more time on them, find them more important, and to be more willing to share information. These findings help explain what SNS users feel is private and what benefit they hope to gain from sharing it.