1. •More than 1 billion active users
•50% of active users log on to Facebook any given day
•80% of teenagers use an online SNS, constituting as the
largest population of Facebook users
•2.7 million students are bullied each year and 2.1 million
take on the role of the bully

2. An Examination of
Adolescent Behavior
Online
Faith Pappalardo and Kristen Ray

3. Review of Literature
 Social Networking Sites (SNS) are a means for self-
presentation, building and maintaining contact with
friends/ acquaintances. 3/4 of adolescents in America use
SNS (D. Boyd, 2007; Hampton & Goulet, 2012).
 Facebook permits configuration of privacy settings for
each data type of basic information
(Madejski & Johnson, 2011).
 Personal data is generously provided, limiting privacy
settings are hardly used; only 1.2% of members change
the default privacy preferences, which are set to
maximize the visibility to other users
(Gross & Aquisti, 2005).

4. Review of Literature
 25% of all potential information that can be disclosed
by a Facebook user was disclosed
(A. Nosko, 2009).
 More than 50% of subjects disclosed personal
interests, concluding that Facebook users are “by
large, quite oblivious, unconcerned, or just pragmatic
about their personal privacy” (A. Acquisti, 2005).
 People are often indicated as friends on Facebook,
even though the user does not know or trust them
(D. Boyd, 2004).

5. Review of Literature
 The popular perception is that online adolescents
naively tell all, only to fall prey to bullies, predators, or
regret when faced with these negative consequences
(Christofides & Muise, 2012).
 The majority of adolescents utilize privacy settings on
Facebook to protect from online predators and forms
of digital harassment (Khatoon & Pappalardo, 2013).

6. Purpose
The purpose(s) of this study were to
(1) identify types and causes of security settings
(2) determine if age influences privacy setting usage
(3) evaluate cyberbullying threats in relation to
privacy settings

7. Focus Group
• Responses were recorded via iPhone
• Licensed social worker
• 18 questions regarding privacy settings, bullying,
blocking, and visibility of profile
Risk Assessment
• Emotional risk
• Legal risk (DASA)
Methodology
Overall
Participant
Percent
Female
Percent
Male
Mean Age
44 68 32 15.68

8. Methodology
SampleQuestions
 Privacy Setting Usage
 What do you know about your privacy settings on
Facebook? Who taught you?
 How are your general privacy settings set?
 Change in Privacy Settings
 Since you’ve opened your Facebook account have
you ever changed your privacy settings? How?
Why?
 As you get older, will you change any aspect of
your privacy settings? If so, what?

9. Methodology
 Threat of Cyberbullying
 Has cyberbullying on Facebook ever been a
problem for you?
 Do you have any have any concerns with other
social networking sites linked to your Facebook,
likeAsk.Fm,Twitter and Instagram?

10. Data Analysis
Security Settings
Friend Requests
Everyone-
Anyone I meet can easily
send a friend request
Friends of Friends-
Only people I know can send
me friend requests
Only friends can view personal
information
Sites lent to more “followers”
and “likes” are frequently
viewed by strangers
Blocking
Facebook- Creepy messages, Inappropriate (sexual)
posts, random friend requests, mean/weird comments
Instagram- Mean comments on photos
Friend Requests Viewing Profile and Posts
Blocking
Everyone
Friends of Friends
Facebook
Instagram andTwitter
Facebook
Instagram

11. Yes
More stringent as age
increases because of
job and college
applications
Use Facebook more as age
increases for job networking
and reconnecting with high
school friends
No
Adolescents rarely use
Facebook and do not
post anything they have
to hide
Sites like Instagram and
Twitter do not use real
names so adolescents think
their information is safe
Change in Security as Age Increases
• Most Facebook accounts opened in 6th and 7th grade have
had privacy settings changed.
• Instagram andTwitter accounts are constantly changed from
private to public and vice-versa.

12. Cyberbullying
Less serious
than face-to-
face bullying
Adolescents are
less likely to
intervene online
Just posting a
mean comment
isn’t really
bullyingAsk.fm is
“bully-nation”,
anonymous
posts
Twitter “wars”
are common but
not taken
seriously
Blocking is
commonly used
to stop
cyberbullying

13. Results/Discussion
 Facebook is more personal than any other means of
SNS causing adolescents to implement more
stringent privacy settings.
 As adolescents mature, some increase privacy
settings as they become wary of colleges and
employers viewing information. However, some
adolescents feel there is nothing to hide.
 Cyberbullying is a more serious threat on SNS with
less privacy settings and regulations than Facebook
such asTwitter, Instagram, and Ask.Fm and is
avoided through blocking.

14. Limitations
 Relatively small sample size of only 44 participants.
 Unequal participation, some participants answered
more questions than others.
 Data was analyzed for its qualitative purpose and
may not be applicable to all adolescents.
 Age range did not span throughout all adolescent
age only 14-18year olds were assessed.
 Participants were gathered only from an urban
metropolitan area, answers may differ from those in
a rural area.

15. Delimitations
• The participants of the study were diverse and
comparable in ethnicity to that of a larger
metropolitan area.
• The focus groups addressed reasons for privacy
setting usage and reasons for blocking, as well as
types of cyberbullying.
• The social worker allowed for a safe discussion to
occur, adolescents felt comfortable to talk about
online experiences.

16. Conclusion
The study suggests that adolescents
 Teach themselves about privacy settings or learn
from older siblings/cousins, and avoid contact
with strangers online through usage of the
blockage tool
 Do not necessarily change privacy settings as age
increases
 Utilize the blockage tool to avoid instances of
cyberbullying and do not take cyberbullying
seriously

17. Future
Fact
218 million
active users on
Twitter, 150
million
Instagram users,
60 million
Ask.Fm Users
25.1% of
females and
16.6% of males
report feeling
victimized
online
Study privacy
risks associated
with all different
types of growing
social media
Prospective
study over the
course of 15-20
years
Study
psychological
effects and
prevalence of
cyberbullying in
comparison to
face-to-face
bullying
Stop privacy
breeches,
stalking, and
contact with
strangers online
Examine changes
in privacy
settings over
time
Cyberbullying
may be taken
more seriously as
a threat to
adolescents
rather than
treated as a joke
Fact
Proposal
RealWorldValue

18. Acknowledgements
 Dr. Mary- Ann Allison
 Hofstra University
 Kimberly Libertini and Michael Frazer
 Our Parents