Exploring social media privacy concerns : a comprehensive survey study across 16 Middle Eastern and North African countries

Farooq, Ali and Salminen, Joni and Martin, Justin and Aldous, Kholoud and Jung, Soon-Gyo and Jansen, Bernard J (2024) Exploring social media privacy concerns : a comprehensive survey study across 16 Middle Eastern and North African countries. IEEE Access, 12. 147087 - 147105. ISSN 2169-3536 (https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2024.3463869)

[thumbnail of Farooq-etal-Exploring_Social_Media_Privacy_Concerns_A_Comprehensive_Survey_Study_Across_16_Middle_Eastern_and_North_African_Countries]
Preview
 Text. Filename: Farooq-etal-Exploring_Social_Media_Privacy_Concerns_A_Comprehensive_Survey_Study_Across_16_Middle_Eastern_and_North_African_Countries.pdf
Final Published Version
License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 logo
Download (2MB)| Preview

Abstract

The wide use of social media raises numerous privacy concerns, with limited studies of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This study presents an in-depth analysis of social media privacy concerns in sixteen MENA countries, a timely and important topic in an under-studied region. A census-representative sample (N=8140) was collected using an online panel survey from Algeria (n=551), Bahrain (n=453), Egypt (n=522), Iraq (n=526), Jordan (n=580), Kuwait (n=459), Lebanon (n=485), Libya (n=486), Morocco (n=530), Oman (n=471), Palestine (n=486), Qatar (n=489), Saudi Arabia (n=521), Tunisia (n=574), United Arab Emirates (n=479), and Yemen (n=528). Results show multi-level privacy differences in the Gulf, Levant, and North Africa regions, among countries in regions, and within a country based on gender, age, educational level, and status in the given country (expat vs. nationals). Results show the prevailing concerns and attitudes towards social media privacy in the MENA region, identifying factors contributing to these perceptions with implications for developing platforms and policies to address the unique privacy concerns of social media users in the MENA region.

ORCID iDs

Farooq, Ali ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4864-3155, Salminen, Joni, Martin, Justin, Aldous, Kholoud, Jung, Soon-Gyo and Jansen, Bernard J;
  • Item type:Article
    ID code:90746
    Dates:
    Date
    Event
    October 2024
    Published
    19 September 2024
    Published Online
    1 September 2024
    Accepted
    Subjects:
    Department:Faculty of Science > Computer and Information Sciences
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:02 Oct 2024 08:55
    Last modified:23 Oct 2024 12:26
    Related URLs:
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/90746
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)