Thai teens’ privacy-related practices on Facebook

ABSTRACT Adolescents of today are at risk of online disclosure due to sharing personal information online without privacy settings. Facebook has the most users on social network site. This study aimed to 1)investigate the type of personal information that adolescents frequently display online 2)identify how adolescents manage their privacy settings on Facebook and 3)examine parents’ intervention on adolescents’ online lives. A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey participants aged 13to18 years old from 6 high schools across Thailand. The study recruited 1,242 adolescents (mean15.7 years,SD = 1.6). Most of adolescents allowed everyone to access their profiles. They shared information including real name (78.7%), phone number (22.7%), birthdate (82.5%), city of residence (62.2%), photo (64.5%), national ID number (2.3%), and credit card number (1%). The older group had more reputation management than the younger group. Parental control and guidance were significantly found in the older group than in the younger group. Different from studies in western countries, most Thai adolescents display their personal information on Facebook. Most adolescents reported that their parents have discussed online privacy and safety with them. However, they still choose to disclose a lot of information. Appropriate parental guidance and control might improve Thai adolescents’ privacy practices. IMPACT SUMMARY Prior State of Knowledge: Adolescents are at risk of oversharing and disclosing their personal information online. In western countries, adolescents discuss with their parents how to be safe on the internet. Approximately 60% of teen Facebook users in US keep their profiles private. Novel Contributions: The majority of Thai adolescents Facebook users shared of their profile publicly. This oversharing behavior may be resulted from cultures norms that Asian people may feel more comfortable than those in the West when mentioning private topics. Practical Implications: Appropriate parental guidance about teens’ online privacy issues should be emphasized in Thailand. Moreover, national recommendation regarding adolescents’ online safety should be considered.