Thesis and Literature Review Section (References Included in APA)

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.