Analysis of the Facebook Profiles for Korean Users: Description and Determinants

This study analyzed the profile of a Facebook account to examine how personal information is revealed and what kinds of factors influence personal information revelation. Categories of user's profile on Facebook were analyzed and two dimensions were developed; the degree that how much personal information is revealed and the network limits that personal information is accessed. Main variables to determine personal information revelation are Facebook privacy concern and uses for social relationships along with gender, the duration of Facebook use, and average time of use. Data were collected from college students. Factor analysis produced two factors of Facebook privacy concern, Facebook privacy concern with users and Facebook privacy concern with the Facebook system. Regression analyses were performed to identify significant determinants of the degree of information revelation and the network limits of personal information. The results found out that the degree of personal information revelation is explained by gender, the duration of use, and use for social relationships while the network limit is explained by the duration of use and Facebook privacy concern with users. Worthy of notice is that use for social relationships and Facebook privacy concern with the Facebook system offset each other. The implications of the results are discussed. Additionally and finally the categories of profiles are graphically re-grouped to show how personal information revelation is associated with social relationship generation and maintenance. ☞ keyword : Facebook, Facebook profiles, personal information, privacy concern