YSU professor researches Facebook privacy

A Youngstown State University professor is trying to figure out why people post the things they do on social media websites. He also wants to know if they're aware of just how many views these posts are receiving.

As part of his doctoral study, Patrick Bateman — assistant professor of management — started his research in 2004, analyzing Friendster, a social networking site that predates Myspace and Facebook.

Friendster, which is now a social gaming website, was known as a social networking hub in its early days.

Bateman said when Myspace overtook Friendster as the most popular social networking website, he realized that social media wasn't a fad.

"The idea intrigued me," he said. "I can't believe how many times I look at something, particularly of students, and wonder, ‘Why would they post that?'"

Today, his research extends into Facebook as it has evolved into the most popular social networking website.

Freshman Brandie Bigony said she keeps her Facebook settings on private. Subsequently, only those she recognizes as friends can see her status updates and pictures. She was shocked to discover that someone who had deleted her as a friend could still see all of her information.

Since finding this out, she's been more careful about what she posts.

"I only use Facebook when I'm bored," Bigony said.

Bateman said he doesn't have a personal Facebook account. He does, however, have a mock account for research purposes.

On one hand, he said, Facebook is a good way for people to "get their message out, whatever it may be."

On the other hand, Bateman said privacy is virtually nonexistent on Facebook.

"There's an opposing point of view that says if people realized how public this was, they wouldn't disclose as much information," Bateman said.

Bateman's research asked subjects how public they think the website is and how much information they were willing to share.

He said Facebook is a good communication platform and was originally meant to be just that — a way to communicate.

"If they knew how public their information was, they wouldn't put it out," Bateman said. "Every few months, Facebook makes little tweaks — usually to their policy, but this time to their site — and a lot of folks tend to get upset."

Bateman said subjects were most upset about the timeline and news feed changes. This new layout doesn't share more information, but it makes that information easier to find.

"Our research would say we understand why [people were upset] because their information is more public," Bateman said. "People are treating Facebook like a diary, when really they should be treating Facebook like a billboard."

According to statistics provided by Facebook, more than 800 million people use Facebook. More than half of users log in daily.

"Our research would indicate that if you post a photo album knowing that 400 million people could see it, chances are you wouldn't post it," he said.

Freshman Samantha Kerr said that she's seen her Facebook friends post pictures that she considers inappropriate.

"If you're studying to be a teacher and you're posting pictures of yourself drinking, it's like anyone can see those," she said.  

According to Facebook, users upload more than 250 million pictures each day.

"If you're coming into my company, it makes a lot of sense for me to type your name into Google and see what I find about you," Bateman said. "A lot of that is going to be Facebook, and a lot of that is what users are saying [like], ‘This is who I am. This is what I do.' So, it's a good source of information. It may not be the complete picture, but it's enough to see what an individual is willing to share and show about themselves."

According to the DailyTech website, Facebook users under the age of 25 are more likely to regret a post than older users. Of the regretted posts, 40 percent of them were unable to be removed before causing substantial damage.

"Facebook isn't digging into your past and posting this information," Bateman said. "They're just presenting information that individuals have willingly decided to post online."