Abstract:

Previous work revealed that the anticipated benefits of social network sites among daily active users outweighed the observed risks of disclosing personal information on the sites. Even though there was a great deal of media coverage about privacy issues with regards to social network sites, the concerns for privacy arose from such coverage did not significantly affecting users’ decisions to continue disclosing personal information The evidence from past literature suggested that higher concerns on privacy risks do not necessarily imply lower information disclosure levels as perceived benefits tend to have greater influence in the privacy calculus decisions. Scholars further argued that an individual is willing to share her personal information in exchange for intangible benefits. On the contrary, many past studies have documented the significant negative effects of privacy risks on personal information disclosure in information systems. The absence of tight privacy policies and fairness practices across geographical areas and across firms contribute to perceptions of vulnerability and threats of privacy invasion among users of social network sites, which they may deem harmful.

Turning our direction into the study of culture in social network sites, there are evidences that show various influences of cultural values on the ways users behaved while using social network sites. Previous studies mainly compared this influence of user behaviors between nations in terms of their prevalent cultural values. Malaysians, in general, are collectivists and hierarchical. People in countries such as Malaysia consider unconditional respect for parents and perceived religion as important. They are found to be more religious i.e. they rely on beliefs that are thought to be widespread in one’s nation. They also rely on vertical sources i.e. the extent to which subordinates rely on formal rules and procedures. Conformity to expectations of people with authority and extended kin-groups are common social norms in such societies.

However, due to the influence of Western and multi-cultures on young generations; the recent trend shows that individualistic values such as competition, accomplishment, and being active may be well-accepted and appreciated. To date, little is known about how prevalent cultural values of Malaysians, in particular collectivism and hierarchical, influence the way Malaysia adolescents disclose their personal information in social network sites. Hence, this study aims to explore how the degree of individualism or collectivism embraced by Malaysian adolescents influences the way their disclose personal information in social network sites. A survey study was conducted involving 432 students aged 16 years old from 9 secondary schools in southern region of Malaysia. The result shows that the degree of individualism and collectivism among Malaysian adolescents has significant influenced on the relationships between perceived entertainment as well as relationship management benefits and the way they disclosed personal information in the sites. The implications of the finding towards the roles of cultural values in designing online safety education for young generations are discussed.

Keywords:

Cultural values, privacy calculus, information disclosure, social network sites, adolescents.