An Investigation of Attitudes of Students Towards Privacy on Facebook

Year 2018, Issue: 29, 368 - 384, 30.06.2018

Uğur Bakan

https://doi.org/10.31123/akil.441782

Abstract

The social media studies have frequently investigated the changes occurring in the

individual’s behaviors within the social network, and the cause-and-effect relationship

of these changes focuses on personality, but very little research has investigated

the relationship between Facebook and privacy within the theoretical framework of

individualism. In this study, it was aimed to determine whether there is a relationship

between the tendency of students to hide their problems and their attitudes towards

this tendency. This study is a descriptive one, and was evaluated by surveys. A

Likert-type online questionnaire including 36 items was answered by 568 high school

students from 26 classes (grades 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th) in Ordu, Turkey (Male=279,

49.1%, Female=289, 50.9%) in March and April in 2016. Participants ranged from

14 to 18 years of age (M = 16.15, SD = 1.00). Mean and standard deviation values

were calculated for the obtained data and those were indicated in findings by making

interpretations of the tables. As to the results of t-test and One Way ANOVA test which

was conducted to determine the reasons of usage of social media by the students in

terms of gender, monthly income and family attitude, there was a significant difference

among variables. Findings point to the complex ways of the problems of privacy of

adolescents on Facebook. The study results will raise more questions for future studies

in terms of social media usage and privacy management.

Keywords

Self-problems, Risky Behaviors, Privacy, Education, Social Media, Facebook

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