MySpace research points to need for Internet education

AUTHOR: Jared Reed DATE: 06.09.07 ISSUE 1, 2007

New research from UNSW's School of Information Systems, Technology and Management at the Australian School of Business has shown that most teenage users of MySpace behave responsibly, and do not disclose sensitive personal information such as physical address and phone number.

Peer pressure remains a significant issue for today’s teenagers, with many citing it as one of the main drivers of their usage of MySpace. The study surveyed 300 students aged 12-18 years across four Sydney high schools.

Most teenage MySpace survey participants knew Internet best-practice in regards to disclosure of information, but need further education because of a more relaxed attitude to privacy.

Photo: Zaineb De Souza

The research aimed to identify why MySpace, a social networking website with an Australian membership of over 3 million, had gained significant popularity with teenagers, and whether concerns over privacy, friendship formation and disclosure of personal information were warranted. It was the first study of social networking sites to focus solely on MySpace.

For the first time, information was gathered from a parent focus group as a direct reaction to data gathered from the teenagers’ responses.

94% of surveyed parents judged their child’s online activities as dangerous and risky, suggesting a disconnect between parent expectation and child behaviour.

"Curiosity and enjoyment, as well as peer pressure, were the main factors influencing usage of MySpace. Technology related factors, such as using MySpace as a communication mechanism did not play a large role,” said Zaineb De Souza, author of the research and an Honours student in UNSW's School of Information Systems, Technology and Management.

Ms De Souza said MySpace’s interface, or the fields of information which users enter into the system, ensured profiles were information-rich. Teenagers were more likely to enter information rather than leave a field blank, but creating a positive image about themselves was also a contributing factor to information disclosure.

With regards to friendship, or adding ‘friends’ to their list, teenagers were less likely to befriend someone they did not know. A majority of young users had restricted their profile viewing access to ‘Friends Only.’

Ms De Souza said that older MySpace users disclosed significantly less information than younger users, and users who valued personal privacy were less likely to reveal information.

"The majority of teenage MySpace users behave responsibly. However up to 68% of respondents revealed less traditional contact information such as website or email addresses, and 40% had shared their profile password with an average of two other people.

"Other information types like profile photo, name and high school were being disclosed by the majority of respondents.

"This research points to a clear need for education in Internet behaviour and guidelines as to what is safe and what is not.

"27.8% of users had reported indecent comments made by others on their profile. These figures indicate that risks on the Internet are apparent but may not be overwhelming,” Ms De Souza said.

Up to 66% of parents had never viewed their child’s MySpace profile despite 54% being aware of MySpace.

"This indicates most parents are comfortable with their children’s usage of technology and do not stand in their way, but this may be through technical ignorance or a desire to give their child personal space,” said Ms De Souza.

"Most of the teenage survey respondents know Internet best-practice in regards to disclosure of information. However because of their more relaxed attitude to privacy, education is needed."

MySpace: Technology Acceptance and Information Disclosure by Young Users was supported by the Chris and Mariana Aitken Honours Scholarship in Information Systems.