Research Proposal

Social Media, Privacy and Youth: How Online Sharing Could Impact Future Generations

Research Description

With recent debates involving social networking giant Facebook and its privacy features, it’s not surprising that social media has become a focus for discussion, analysis and research, especially in regards to online sharing and information privacy. While much of this recent research has spotlighted the general uses and impacts of social media in addition to touching upon the current privacy issues, one area that is relatively unexplored is how social media and its privacy regulations will shape and impact future generations as they mature into digital-savvy adults. The purpose of this research paper will be to explore the concept of social media’s long-term impacts on today’s youth in relation to privacy and online information sharing.

Understanding how social media and privacy will influence future generations is an important question to consider as society continues to go digital. With more conversations taking place online, friendships developing virtually and the idea of learning about a person via profile, it’s more important than ever to understand how these developments will shape the next generation of decision-makers and society leaders. Exploring the next generation’s understanding of privacy and long-term effects of social media will better prepare influencers to ensure that youth’s privacy and personal information is protected now, before it is too late.

In regards to social media, privacy and youth, this paper hopes to support the idea that today’s youth lacks the understanding of privacy issues surrounding social media sites; therefore, today’s youth is unable to recognize and process the long-term effects of sharing private information. Private information can be classified as name, address, phone number and photos, among other qualifiers. This paper further hopes to discuss that since children lack the understanding regarding privacy features, they are unable to develop an analytical thinking process before sharing information through social networking sites.

Considering the statements above, this paper intends to investigate the following questions:

Is today’s youth, defined as children ages ten to eighteen, aware of and understand the privacy issues surrounding social networking sites and the long-term effects of sharing private information?

The question of long-term effects is an important aspect to consider regarding this topic. This paper assumes that based on previous research studying current users and the consequences of sharing private information, it can be inferred that it is imperative for children and young adults to comprehend the potential life-altering repercussions that may result from sharing information through social networking sites. However, discovering if today’s youth understands and is aware of privacy issues is not enough to determine if this will affect how they use and behave with the medium. Therefore, a second question must be proposed:

Does the knowledge, or lack thereof, of social media privacy regulations affect how youth, defined as children ages ten to eighteen, use, interact and behave with social media?

Using a different angle to re-examine previous research, this paper will begin to explore the ideas of social network privacy issues and long-term impacts in relation to today’s youth. This research will break-ground within an unexplored topic and help predict the future of social media and the next generation’s attitudes and beliefs towards the medium.

Methodology

This research paper will consist of a literature review with content analysis. By looking at recent research, ranging from social media use to long-term effects to youth’s interest in medium, a new insight on how this media will impact upcoming generations will be discussed. By dissecting relevant research with a different angle, new results and correlations will appear. In addition to the research component, this paper will also include interviews with social media experts who will discuss where social media is today in regards to privacy, where we can expect it to go and how this will impact future generations.

Since this paper will be based in literature, expert interviews and suggested theory, there will be no formal communications science component. However, in order to understand where to start such an experiment this foundational research will prove pivotal in directing future studies regarding the subject matter.

Conclusion

Social media is forever changing the way people communicate, which includes the next generation, even at young ages. For many children, social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have always been a part of their background noise. In other words, social media is not new or novel for them like it has been for current mature audiences. Children are growing up knowing how to inherently use these mediums and their usage will start at younger ages, but the question remains – do they use social networking sites wisely? In order to do so, children need to be educated on privacy regulations surrounding social media and the long-term implications this usage will have on their futures. This research paper is designed to explore this concept and draw conclusions about the knowledge youth carries in regards to social media and privacy as well as the knowledge of long-term impacts through online information sharing.

Tags: privacy, research proposal, social media, youth