USA Today
The Web often comes across as a global watering hole where young adults freely trade personal information while more cautious older visitors stand to the side for fear of losing a grip on their online privacy.
But a new survey turns that notion on its head, showing that those 18 to 29 are more likely than older Internet users to keep a keen eye on their online profiles and who can access them, according to a Pew Internet & American Life Project report out Wednesday on "Reputation Management and Social Media." Among the findings:
• 44% of young adult Internet users say they take steps to limit the amount of information available about them, compared to 33% of users ages 30 to 49 and 25% of those ages 50 to 64.
• 71% of younger social networking site users actively change their privacy settings to limit what they share with others online, compared to 55% of those 50 to 64.
• 41% have removed their names from photos of them posted by others, compared to just 18% of those 50 to 64.
Researchers surveyed 2,253 adults 18 and older by phone, including 560 cellphone interviews. Margin of error is plus or minus 2.3 percentage points.
"The prevailing notion of young adults is that they have a radically different perception of privacy, one that is very free," says Mary Madden, the report's lead author. "But this data shows they are every bit as concerned with privacy and are more engaged in monitoring their information than older users."
Ari Schwartz, of the non-profit Center for Democracy & Technology, in Washington, D.C., agrees that "this validates that young people do care about privacy, though it has to be in the context of their online lives." As for older users of social networking sites, "the issue isn't really that they're not interested in privacy so much as the fact that often they just aren't sure how to protect themselves."
Madden notes that the Pew survey was conducted before Facebook's recent tweaks to its privacy settings, "but clearly what they've done fits in with the concerns of younger social network site users."
She says that the frequency with which younger users connect on social media means there is usually more data to protect. "Older users just aren't on as much, so consequently they may not see as much of a threat to their information."
Younger social networking site users are in fact the most distrustful of the very sites they frequent. Some 28% of those 18 to 29 reported they "never" trust sites such as Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn, vs. 18% of those ages 50-plus. The most trusted of Web destinations among the younger online crowd were news sites (11% said "Just about always,") while the 50-plus group trusted health news sites most.
Despite the apparent privacy concerns, the fallout of errant data seems limited so far.
Only 4% of those surveyed reported having embarrassing or inaccurate information about them released online, a figure that is unchanged since 2006. Some 8% reported having asked someone to take down information about them, with 82% saying those requests are granted without issue.
Many Internet users also felt comforted by a feeling of "privacy through obscurity," says Madden, "which resulted from Web searches about themselves that didn't turn up much of concern."
When self-searchers put their name in a search engine, 63% said they found at least some relevant material about themselves. But 35% said such queries did not yield relevant results. Just 31% said the results on the first page concerned them, while 62% said results turned up information about someone with a similar name.
But a new survey turns that notion on its head, showing that those 18 to 29 are more likely than older Internet users to keep a keen eye on their online profiles and who can access them, according to a Pew Internet & American Life Project report out Wednesday on "Reputation Management and Social Media." Among the findings:
• 44% of young adult Internet users say they take steps to limit the amount of information available about them, compared to 33% of users ages 30 to 49 and 25% of those ages 50 to 64.
• 71% of younger social networking site users actively change their privacy settings to limit what they share with others online, compared to 55% of those 50 to 64.
• 41% have removed their names from photos of them posted by others, compared to just 18% of those 50 to 64.
Researchers surveyed 2,253 adults 18 and older by phone, including 560 cellphone interviews. Margin of error is plus or minus 2.3 percentage points.
"The prevailing notion of young adults is that they have a radically different perception of privacy, one that is very free," says Mary Madden, the report's lead author. "But this data shows they are every bit as concerned with privacy and are more engaged in monitoring their information than older users."
Ari Schwartz, of the non-profit Center for Democracy & Technology, in Washington, D.C., agrees that "this validates that young people do care about privacy, though it has to be in the context of their online lives." As for older users of social networking sites, "the issue isn't really that they're not interested in privacy so much as the fact that often they just aren't sure how to protect themselves."
Madden notes that the Pew survey was conducted before Facebook's recent tweaks to its privacy settings, "but clearly what they've done fits in with the concerns of younger social network site users."
She says that the frequency with which younger users connect on social media means there is usually more data to protect. "Older users just aren't on as much, so consequently they may not see as much of a threat to their information."
Younger social networking site users are in fact the most distrustful of the very sites they frequent. Some 28% of those 18 to 29 reported they "never" trust sites such as Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn, vs. 18% of those ages 50-plus. The most trusted of Web destinations among the younger online crowd were news sites (11% said "Just about always,") while the 50-plus group trusted health news sites most.
Despite the apparent privacy concerns, the fallout of errant data seems limited so far.
Only 4% of those surveyed reported having embarrassing or inaccurate information about them released online, a figure that is unchanged since 2006. Some 8% reported having asked someone to take down information about them, with 82% saying those requests are granted without issue.
Many Internet users also felt comforted by a feeling of "privacy through obscurity," says Madden, "which resulted from Web searches about themselves that didn't turn up much of concern."
When self-searchers put their name in a search engine, 63% said they found at least some relevant material about themselves. But 35% said such queries did not yield relevant results. Just 31% said the results on the first page concerned them, while 62% said results turned up information about someone with a similar name.
