Facebook Privacy Attitudes: A Comparison of Two Minority Groups

Because of Facebook’s ubiquitous nature, users who fail to properly configure their Facebook account privacy settings could be unintentionally revealing personal information to millions of people. This study analyzes data collected from African American and Hispanic college students regarding Facebook privacy setting attitudes and use. The findings indicate African American students have been members of Facebook longer and have more “Friends” than Hispanic students. Both ethnic groups spend about the same amount of time on Facebook during each session, although Hispanics log on more frequently. Virtually all the students claim awareness and use Facebook privacy settings. Hispanics have more restrictive Facebook privacy settings than African Americans. Neither ethnic group trusts Facebook to protect privacy, but African Africans show less concern while Hispanics indicate greater worry about Facebook privacy and data security. Both ethnic groups are more concerned about Internet privacy than Facebook privacy, Hispanics significantly more so