A typology and model of privacy- and security-concerned users' attitudes towards digital footprints and consequent influence on their social media adaptation

Abstract

How users with privacy and security concerns engage with social media in light of their perceptions of risks associated with their digital footprints is a critical question for research and practice. Using a mixed-methods approach, we examine privacy- and security-related concerns of social media users and their subsequent adaptation behaviors in two studies. The first study, a qualitative enquiry, helps us develop a typology of four groups of social media users with respect to their privacy- and security-related attitudes characterized as careless, carefree, conscious, and cautious. A conceptual model comprised of eight hypotheses is developed based on the qualitative study that captures the relationship between privacy- and security-related attitudes and social media adaptation. The second study, a quantitative study, tests the model and reveals that users with careless and carefree attitudes are likely to explore social media to maximize benefits and exploit certain applications, while cautious users are likely to avoid using social media as much as possible. The findings are inconclusive for conscious users’ adaptation, however. This could be due to their systematic and informed decision-making, which is likely to have contextual variability. We contribute by offering a clear and coherent typology and a model of privacy- and security-concerned users’ attitudes and social media adaptation.