A holistic perspective on control, trust, norms and communication: how relevant are they for the perception and regulation of privacy?

Social media users manage their privacy through communication with others and by drawing on trust, social norms, and control. This article explores how these four factors shape the perception of privacy, and in turn, privacy regulation behaviour in user-to-user settings. We tested the assumptions of the social media privacy model and applied a holistic perspective to factors that have previously been studied in isolation. By applying structural equation modelling to data from a quota-representative survey of German social media users (N = 683), we revealed that users who felt that social norms, communication, trust, and control were available to them also felt more confident about their privacy. However, these factors were not equally important: Users perceived social norms and interpersonal communication as significantly more available and impactful than trust and control. Users who felt they could talk to other users about privacy were more likely to engage in active regulation. We advocate for moving beyond perspectives focusing on individual control in research and call for greater attention to be paid to the diversity of users’ privacy options. Additionally, we encourage a social perspective on privacy and discuss how designing platforms that support negotiation and communication foster privacy protection.