Citation

Stieger S, Burger C, Bohn M, Voracek M. Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw. 2013; 16(9): 629-634.

Affiliation

Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, School of Psychology, University of Vienna , Vienna, Austria .

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Mary Ann Liebert Publishers)

DOI

10.1089/cyber.2012.0323

PMID

23374170

Abstract

Social networking sites such as Facebook attract millions of users by offering highly interactive social communications. Recently, a counter movement of users has formed, deciding to leave social networks by quitting their accounts (i.e., virtual identity suicide). To investigate whether Facebook quitters (n=310) differ from Facebook users (n=321), we examined privacy concerns, Internet addiction scores, and personality. We found Facebook quitters to be significantly more cautious about their privacy, having higher Internet addiction scores, and being more conscientious than Facebook users. The main self-stated reason for committing virtual identity suicide was privacy concerns (48 percent). Although the adequacy of privacy in online communication has been questioned, privacy is still an important issue in online social communications.

Language: en