An Expanded Study of Net Generation Perceptions on Privacy and Security on Social Networking Sites (SNS)

Abstract

Social networking on the Internet continues to be a frequent avenue of communication, especially among Net Generation consumers, giving benefits both personal and professional. The benefits may be eventually hindered by issues in information gathering and sharing on social networking sites. This study evaluates the perceptions of students taking a required university-core computing course in an expanded and new survey at a leading northeast institution on facets of privacy of marketplace social networking sites, relative to internal information gathering and sharing on the sites. Findings from the survey continue to demonstratively indicate less knowledge of personal information gathering and sharing techniques on the sites, notably in privacy and security statements, than of the popular sociality of the sites. These findings furnish impetus into the continued improvement of curricula in the disciplines of information systems and non-information systems, in order to educate students on often overlooked dimensions of social networking on the Internet.