It seems the privacy lessons of social media scandals are finally sinking in, as a Pew Internet and American Life Project survey has found that more individuals are managing their privacy settings on social networks and monitoring their online reputation more than they did in 2009. However, there is still progress to be gained in the realm of privacy as plenty of people are not taking the necessary precautions to protect their reputations and personal information. There are some interesting trends in regards to gender and age that emerged in this survey, and also many lessons that have been learned and still must be learned to protect Internet privacy going forward.
Gender and Age Differences in Social Media Privacy
Among the 2,277 adults surveyed and countless teens also questioned, many differences were noted in the way the young and old, men and women, and educated and noneducated chose to protect their privacy on the net.
Based on the survey results, it seems women are more cautious in their actions on social media sites. While 67 percent of women reported that they set their profiles so only their "friends" are able to see them, just 48 percent took the same step themselves. Also, 15 percent of men said they posted something online that they later regretted, compared with 8 percent of women.
When it comes to regrettable posts, it became evident in the survey that wisdom does come with age - as just 5 percent of people over the age of 50 said they posted something regrettable online. Meanwhile, 15 percent of social network users between the ages of 18 and 29 said they posted something they later regretted.
Ironically, respondents who reported having the highest levels of education also reported having the most trouble figuring out their privacy settings, which is proof positive of the difficulty in deciphering online privacy policies. Despite this disparity, just 2 percent of users said privacy controls were "very difficult to manage."
Interestingly enough, there were no major differences reported in people's basic privacy controls by age, as 62 percent of teens and 58 percent of adults restricted access to their profiles to just "friends." Both young and old social media issues reported that they deleted unwanted comments on their pages, with young people slightly more likely to delete posts they disliked than older users.
Steps Being Taken by Privacy Savvy People
Even with all these differences, those both young and old, male and female, and of all educational backgrounds reported taking more action in terms of privacy than respondents did in 2009. In 2011, 44 percent of users said they deleted comments from their social media profiles, compared with 36 percent in 2009.
In addition to deleting comments, many are going further to protect who their messages get to in the first place. Nearly two-thirds of survey respondents on social networks said they deleted friends in 2011, compared with 56 percent in 2009. More individuals also reported removing their names from photos than two years ago.
Survey respondents of all ages indicated greater importance of online privacy and increased use of tools to protect privacy. This trend has been seen even in the government as the Obama administration and various lawmakers have sought further protections on Internet privacy.
Lessons Still to be Learned and Spread
While the increase in reported action and interest by advocates and lawmakers is encouraging, there are still one-third of individuals not pruning their friends' lists, many not removing inappropriate photos, others leaving up comments not fit for the public, and plenty not taking advantage of all the privacy controls to which they are privy.
Men can learn from women in making their profiles only viewable to friends and in thinking before they post things they may later wish to take back. The old can learn from the young's willingness to delete inappropriate comments, while the young can learn from the old's wisdom in posting regrettable content in the first place.
Though the Pew survey indicates a trend toward greater privacy and smarter social media use, the fact that people are still being fired for their postings and experiencing legal actions and other negative recourse as a result of online activities indicates there are still many lessons to be taken to heart. We can only hope the adoption of privacy protections will be closer to 100 percent when the next survey rolls around, that is if savvy social media users and privacy advocates have anything to say about it.