Thesis
Although there are many different
forms of media and each has its own individual set of goals for a specific
target audience, all of these separate forms of media contribute to each
individual audience member’s personal perception of their privacy.
Literature Review
Much has
been written and published with respect to media and privacy, and this work has
taken a multitude of different forms. There have been books, peer reviewed
articles, newspaper articles, magazine columns and videos all of which cover
privacy in media. Not much can be found, however, on how the separate forms of
media directly influence an individual’s perception of their own privacy. The
way I will approach the analysis of how media effects privacy is by first
reviewing what has been written on the two topics together, and then by synthesizing
this literature in an attempt to develop a general idea of how each facet of
media directly and indirectly effects an individual’s perception of their own
privacy.
For example, in the article
International differences in information privacy concerns: a global survey of consumers,
Steven Bellemen et al (2004) argue that there are potential reasons that there
are differences in internet privacy concerns revealed by national regulations (p.
313-324). These reasons are said to be differences in cultural values,
differences in internet experience, and desires of political institutions
without reflecting the privacy wishes of the citizens. This is a perfect
example of an author taking one particular genre of media, social networking, and
investigating the reasons for differences in national versus international
privacy concerns.
Another article entitled Social media
and its effect on privacy written by Areselia Gales (2012) argues that one
cannot share their personal opinions on a social network anymore with the
expectations of them being private. Gales suggests that this is one of the
negative effects of the social media on people’s privacy, and even gives an
example of a teacher being fired because she was unaware of the stipulations of
her privacy settings. This circumstance undoubtedly had an everlasting effect
on this teacher’s personal view of her own privacy.
In the book Surveillance studies and overview,
author David Lyon (2007) argues that individuals have a wide variety of
perception when it comes to individual privacy. He states that these
differences can be based upon “contexts, situations, historical moments and
personal and group circumstances (p. 174-176). Lyon is arguing a point much in
line with my own in that there is a multitude of different avenues that affect
and individual’s perception of their own privacy. Although Lyon is not
specifically referring to media in his explanation, media can certainly be
included within a few of the circumstances mentioned.
In an article entitled Investigating
privacy attitudes and behavior in relation to personalization written by Evelien
van de Garde-Perik et al (2008), it is argued that personality traits and
musical preferences can largely reflect a person’s attitude on their personal
privacy. The authors also state that there are inconsistencies between privacy
attitudes and privacy behaviors in the context of shopping online. This study
was conducted with not only music in mind, but online shopping as well. Two
aspects of media that I will argue largely influence an individual’s perception
of their own privacy.
References
Bellman S, Johnson E, Kobrin S, Lohse
G. (2004). International differences in information privacy concerns: a global
survey of consumers. The Information
Society. 20:313-324. Retrieved from: http://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/sites/decisionsciences/files/files/1172.pdf
Gales A. (2012). Social media and its
effect on privacy. The State Press. Retrieved
from http://www.statepress.com/2012/03/05/social-media-and-its-effect-on-privacy/
on April 30, 2013.
Lyon, D. (2007). Surveillance studies an overview. Polity Press. Cambridge, U.K. p.
174-176
Van de Garde- Perik, E. Markopoulos,
P. de Ruyter, B. Eggen, B. Ijsselsteijn, W. (2008). Investigating privacy
attitudes and behavior in relation to personalization. Social Science Computer Review. Retrieved from http://ssc.sagepub.com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/content/26/1/20.full.pdf+html
on April 23, 2013.
