Graduation Term

2020

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Committee Chair

Livia K Stone

Abstract

People of color are becoming increasingly concerned with digital privacy. They are concerned about the obfuscated data collection and sharing practices of major social media plat- forms and the strong entitlement of other users in the online space to their content. This study examines how people of color conceptualize and behave to produce safety in the online space, or, in other words, digital privacy. This study challenges notions that people are not purposeful about privacy in the online space and highlights the voices of people of color, whom are not of- ten included in theorizing or decision making about the online space.

This qualitative study reveals generational differences in the digital privacy strategies of people of color. Participants who are Millennials and Generation X are influenced by intergener- ational knowledge when they conceptualize and seek to create privacy. Participants who are from Generation Z lack this knowledge, and, therefore, approach privacy differently. This difference is revealed in the choice of participants that are Millennials and Generation X to self-deplatform from major social media. Instead, Younger participants, who belong to Generation Z, practice strict curation of their online selves. The aim of this strategy is to endure. They believe that future economic and social benefits wait on the other side of disprivacy.

Access Type

Thesis-Open Access

DOI

https://doi.org/10.30707/ETD2020.20210309065832404197.93

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