Editor's note: Dinaz Kachhi is manager, research insights, at Encino, Calif., research company uSamp. She is based in Dallas. She can be reached at 818-52411218 ext. 189 or at dinaz@usamp.com. This article appeared in the June 11, 2012, edition of Quirk's e-newsletter.

 

"It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen." - George Orwell, 1984

 

We may be nearly 30 years past Orwell's apocalypse but we are closer than ever to his Big Brother predictions. While readers may have once shuddered to think that the walls of privacy might crumble to reveal private thoughts publicly, the above quote seems but a mundane observation in an age where status updates and hashtags make public what was once private - or at least confined to a tight-knit circle. Security concerns are becoming more pronounced, as more and more people engage in social networks and as data breaches force them to think and interact differently.

The topic of privacy is especially important in the world of survey research. Our industry is built on the premise of getting inside people's minds. We pride ourselves on being able to tap in to the private and make it public for market consumption. We are not only trying to gauge perceptions but also to understand how demographics impact online interactions.

To that end, uSamp conducted a study on social media usage across three groups (U.S. and U.K. general population and Hispanics) to compare, contrast and better understand of how social media usage and willingness to share information varies across and within these groups. The studies were completed over the course of six months. The U.S. and U.K. studies were conducted with 600 respondents each and the Hispanic study was conducted with n of 650, all drawn from uSamp's online panel. The sample was controlled for age and gender.

The results outlined variation in usage of social media platforms by these groups, along with differences in measures taken to control privacy. Additionally, there were distinct trends in the types of activities performed and willingness to share information on social networks, demonstrating different patterns for each group.

Platform activity

  • Hispanics and the U.K. gen pop are aggressive social media users compared to U.S. gen pop.
  • Hispanics are at the forefront of subscribing to popular social media networks.
  • Facebook is the most popular social media channel, with 90 percent of Hispanics; 83 percent of U.K. gen pop; and 81 percent of U.S. gen pop subscribed to the platform.
  • YouTube is the second most popular social media channel among Hispanics (57 percent); U.S. gen pop (50 percent); and U.K. gen pop (46 percent).
  • Conversely, professional networks are least popular among Hispanics (5 percent), compared to U.S. (21 percent) and U.K. gen pop (12 percent), which suggests that Hispanics make a distinction between social interaction and professional networking.
  • U.S. and U.K. gen pop are more active than Hispanics on social media platforms in terms of commenting on, observing and reading profiles; Liking and following brands; and sharing status updates (Figure 1).
  • While Hispanics have higher subscription to social media networks, they are more reserved about interacting when compared to other groups. This phenomenon might explain some of the cultural inhibitions among the Hispanic group.

Perception of privacy

  • Hispanics (77 percent) seem to have a higher level of comfort with the privacy protection executed on social media sites, in comparison to U.K. and U.S. gen pop (64 percent and 65 percent, respectively) who tend to be more skeptical about the tools in place. This could also be indicative of a lack of awareness regarding the use and implications of data gathered through social networking sites.
  • Apart from lack of interest, privacy is considered one of the main reasons why U.S. gen pop (42 percent); Hispanics (35 percent); and U.K. gen pop (32 percent) opt out of social media sites. This also demonstrates that the U.S. gen pop is perhaps more in tune with data and security issues.

Privacy controls

  • Hispanics are likely to be less aware and proactive in taking measures to safeguard their privacy.
  • Thirty-five percent of Hispanics use default settings, compared to U.S. and U.K. gen pop (22 percent each).
  • In general, both U.S. and U.K. gen pop are more proactive in changing their primary settings to control access to public content than Hispanics.
  • Ten percent of Hispanics claim to be less aware of how to control privacy settings.

Willingness to share

  • While Hispanics demonstrate limited awareness about privacy controls, they are hesitant to share information, especially as it relates to name; political affiliation; race and ethnicity; occupation; birth dates; and education, compared to the U.S. and U.K. groups (Figure 2).
  • The U.S. and U.K. gen pop are more willing to share information since they take measures to control access to their personal information available over social media networks. Further comparison between the U.S. and U.K. gen pop reveals that the U.S. gen pop are more willing to share personal identification information than the U.K. gen pop. This could be attributed to cultural differences, social media literacy, directive and privacy policies administered by the governments of these countries.

Customize our strategies

Researchers and marketers need to understand and address the privacy concerns of different groups. As an industry that strives to turn big data into insight, it is imperative that we customize our strategies to gather information and be cognizant of each group's unique online habits and preferences for sharing personal information. To use this information, we must first gain our audience's trust. We must support an environment in which people are comfortable sharing their opinions and for those who are not, we must be mindful enough to read between the lines - sometimes what is left unsaid is more telling than all the social media noise.