Digital Identity Management on Social Media: Exploring the Factors That Influence Personal Information Disclosure on Social Media

Joseph Kwame Adjei, Samuel Adams, Isaac Kofi Mensah, Peter Ebo Tobbin and Solomon Odei-Appiah
Additional contact information
Joseph Kwame Adjei: School of Technology, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Accra 039 5028, Ghana
Samuel Adams: School of Public Services and Governance, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Accra 039 5028, Ghana
Isaac Kofi Mensah: School of Economics and Management, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou 330098, China
Peter Ebo Tobbin: School of Technology, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Accra 039 5028, Ghana
Solomon Odei-Appiah: School of Technology, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Accra 039 5028, Ghana

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 23, 1-17

Abstract: A number of social media platforms have emerged as dominant medium for societal discourse, enabling significant user involvement in creation and shaping of social media contents. However, the phenomenon raises the challenge of digital identity management on such platforms in order to maintain reputations and ensure information privacy preservation. This study examined the factors that influence users’ decision to disclose personal information on Social Media and their antecedents. We employed a mixed-methods approach based on analysis of data of 250 respondents from tertiary institutions in Ghana, and 8 focus group discussions comprising 86 participants. The results revealed a lack of user awareness and appreciation of the limitations of the privacy settings on social media platforms. Secondly, we observed that users’ ability to establish the legitimacy of parties to social media interactions are fundamental requirements in how individuals engage social media. Finally, there is a disparity between information privacy concerns and actual privacy practices of users on social media.

Keywords: social media; autonomy; digital identity; self-determination; competence; Information Privacy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/23/9994/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/23/9994/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:23:p:9994-:d:453543

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().