Understanding Teenage Perceptions and Configurations of Privacy on Instagram

Abstract

As teenage use of social media platform continues to proliferate, so do concerns about teenage privacy and safety online. Prior work has established that privacy on networked publics, such as social media, is complex, requiring users to navigate not only the technical affordances on the platform but also interpersonal relationships and social norms. We investigate how teenagers think about privacy on the popular image-sharing platform, Instagram. We draw on an online survey (N=144) and semi-structured interviews (N=21) with teenagers, ages 13-19, to gain a better understanding how teenagers configure privacy on the popular image-sharing platform Instagram and why they make these privacy decisions. Finally, based on our findings, we provide design recommendations towards the design of better privacy controls for promoting teenage safety online.