What is Privacy?: Investigating the Meaning of Privacy in Facebook and the Social Consequences of This

Since its launch in February 2004, Facebook has grown from a communication portal for Harvard students to one of the most trafficked sites on the internet with many millions of users worldwide. During its short lifespan, Facebook has attracted much criticism focused mainly on the issue of privacy. With users apparently posting data and photos with little consideration of the potential privacy threats, the matter of whether privacy is an issue on Facebook needs addressing. In contrast, the issue to look at is whether there is such a thing as 'privacy' on Facebook or whether it has in fact adopted its own privacy norms. Prior research has shown that Facebook users are relatively oblivious to the fact that Facebook poses risks to user privacy and safety. Displaying large quantities of sensitive data to millions of unknown users is one sign that a large number of users are not fully aware of dangers surrounding the Facebook platform. There are now growing concerns as to whether the modern privacy practices of many users are appropriate in a rapidly changing networked society.