Examining University Students’ Online Privacy Literacy Levels on Social Networking Sites

Abstract

This research aims to examine the privacy behaviors of university students on social networking sites. For this purpose, first of all, students’ online privacy literacy (OPL) levels on social networking sites were determined. Then it was examined whether these levels differ according to students’ gender, frequency of using social networking sites, and the frequency of changing their privacy settings. Also, the relationship between university students’ OPL levels on social networking sites and their purposes of using social networking sites and the relationship between university students’ OPL levels on social networking sites and social network privacy behaviors were examined. Correlational research and causal-comparative research models were used in the study. The research study group consists of 314 undergraduate students studying in different faculties of a state university. The data of the research were obtained online in the spring semester of 2019-2020. Personal information form, Privacy Settings Experience Questionnaire, Online Privacy Literacy Scale, and Social Privacy Behaviors Questionnaire were used as data collection tools in the research. Descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis H test, and Spearman’s Rank-Order Correlation were used to analyze the data obtained in the study. The results showed that university students have a high level of OPL. Besides, female students have higher OPL levels than male students, and their OPL levels are similar according to the social networking sites used and the frequency of changing the privacy settings on these sites. In addition, it was determined that there was a low level of positive correlation between students’ use of social networking sites to follow the agenda and news, like posts or comment on posts, and their privacy behaviors on Facebook and OPL levels on social networking sites. © 2021, Ozgen Korkmaz. All rights reserved.