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How much do you tell?: information disclosure behaviour indifferent types of online communities
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Date
2009
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ACM Press
Abstract
Online communities of different types have become an important part of the internet life of many people within the last couple of years. Both research and business have shown interest in studying the possibilities and risks of these relatively new phenomena. Very controversial aspects of these communities are their implications and effects on privacy issues, as research has shown that users generally provide information rather freely on such communities. However, no systematic comparison of differences in information disclosure behavior considering different types of communities is available. Furthermore only few is known about the information disclosure behavior related to demographic variables, usage contexts and usage patterns. To better understand these aspects of online communities we conducted an online survey that questioned users of various popular online communities about their information disclosure behavior and usage patterns of these sites. More than 850 users responded to our questionnaire. In this paper we present the main results of the analysis and provide linear regression models that allow understanding the involved factors in detail.