An article by 4 German scholars in the Journal of Information Technology asks and answers the question Online social networks: why we disclose.
The article (I warn you it’s a bit turgid and talks more of methodology than results) finds unsurprisingly, that people share personal information because they receive social benefits from it after an examination of benefit to risk ratios.
Inspired by rising privacy concerns, our study empirically identifies factors involved in self-disclosure on OSNs. We find that among the myriad benefits of OSN platforms, Convenience, Relationship Building and Enjoyment are significantly linked to information disclosure. We contribute to the ongoing research by showing that, although risk hinders self-disclosure, it is often offset by benefits and mitigated by trust and control beliefs. Our findings demonstrate that OSN members engage in a process of privacy calculus when deciding to disclose information.
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“Our findings demonstrate that OSN members engage in a process of privacy calculus when deciding to disclose information.”
…but are they making a calculus of informed consent? Of all factors including the nature of the disclosure, the parties receiving the disclosure and the extent of the risks engendered.
@reader
.. it is difficult to tell. One would hope that people are making informed decisions, but clearly from numerous examples they aren’t. There are 2 issues, disclosing things widely to the public, because you have failed to take necessary general privacy steps, and disclosing to those considered ‘friends’. The most harm has almost always been disclosing in the latter category. But, that is something which happens outside of OSN as well, as every child knows your friend can very easily become your enemy. But what is the alternative to disclosure, less contact, less sharing, less connection – this is the alternative and so most people (as in rl) are on balance prepared to take the risk of OSN.