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Shaping Digital Identities in Social Networks: Data Elements and the Role of Privacy Concerns

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Computer Security (CyberICPS 2019, SECPRE 2019, SPOSE 2019, ADIoT 2019)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNSC,volume 11980))

Abstract

Individuals today shape a digital identity through which they “introduce” themselves to others in Social Network Sites (SNS). SNS embody features that enable users to customize their digital identity at will and to disclose desirable elements of their personality. The processes by which users shape their digital identity through information disclosure are largely unknown, including the role of privacy concerns. In this paper we identify the data elements that users consider important for shaping their digital identity in SNS and how privacy concerns shape this process.

In order to explore the above, we conducted an online survey research with 759 participants. Our findings reveal the elements that users consider as important for shaping their digital identity. They also demonstrate that users’ privacy concerns do not seem to affect the amount of information users choose to publish when shaping their digital identity. Finally, we show that particular characteristics of social networking platforms affect the way that users shape their digital identity and privacy behavior.

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Acknowledgement

This research has been partially supported by the SECREDAS project, which is co-funded by the ECSEL Joint Undertaking of the European Union under grant agreement number 783119 and PDM&FC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ionian University, Corfu, Greece

    Thanos Papaioannou & Aggeliki Tsohou

  2. PDM&FC, Lisbon, Portugal

    Thanos Papaioannou

  3. University of the Aegean, Samos, Greece

    Maria Karyda

Authors
  1. Thanos Papaioannou
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  2. Aggeliki Tsohou
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  3. Maria Karyda
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thanos Papaioannou .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Open University of Cyprus, Latsia, Cyprus

    Sokratis Katsikas

  2. IMT Atlantique, Brest, France

    Frédéric Cuppens

  3. IMT Atlantique, Brest, France

    Nora Cuppens

  4. University of Piraeus, Piraeus, Greece

    Costas Lambrinoudakis

  5. University of the Aegean, Mytilene, Greece

    Christos Kalloniatis

  6. University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    John Mylopoulos

  7. Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Annie Antón

  8. University of Piraeus, Piraeus, Greece

    Stefanos Gritzalis

  9. Technical University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Frank Pallas

  10. Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, Berlin, Germany

    Jörg Pohle

  11. Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Angela Sasse

  12. Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark

    Weizhi Meng

  13. University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK

    Steven Furnell

  14. Télécom SudParis, Evry, France

    Joaquin Garcia-Alfaro

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Papaioannou, T., Tsohou, A., Karyda, M. (2020). Shaping Digital Identities in Social Networks: Data Elements and the Role of Privacy Concerns. In: Katsikas, S., et al. Computer Security. CyberICPS SECPRE SPOSE ADIoT 2019 2019 2019 2019. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 11980. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42048-2_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42048-2_11

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