Perception of privacy of young users on social media - Analysis of the privacy paradox on the application TikTok

Abstract

Privacy is challenged online and especially on social media. Nevertheless, people use social media platforms and post their private information, besides their privacy concerns. This phenomenon is called the privacy paradox. In this study, the goal is to understand how teenagers perceive their privacy online and how the privacy paradox can be applied. The focus of this research was the platform TikTok, owned by ByteDance with billions of especially young users. On the platform TikTok you can watch short videos from various genres and produce content yourself. I conducted three focus groups, with in total of fifteen teenagers living in Luxembourg, in which the participants were asked to reflect on their usage and privacy management on TikTok. The focus groups were recorded, transcribed and the data was examined following the thematic analysis method. The results show that knowledge, risk awareness, and the importance of social media in the lives of teenagers influence their privacy management. Depending on how they assess the risks to be relevant to them, they adjust their behaviour online. They receive several benefits when using TikTok which they weigh against their fears. Moreover, the teenagers emphasize the peer pressure they experience to download the application. To be part of the trend and benefit from the positive aspects they associate with the platform, the adolescents find it difficult to resist using TikTok.