Privacy Settings and Usage Behavior of LINE and Their Related Factors in Japanese College Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine how users set privacy settings when using social media and what factors are related to this. The participants were 308 college students. They were surveyed about “LINE,” that is located in a form of social media and is used actively by young people in Japan. The results are as follows: Since people using LINE are less concerned about the diffusion of the user’s personal information, privacy settings for linking to well-known persons (e.g. friends, family, etc.) are less strict; however, privacy settings and usage behaviors for linking to strangers on the Internet were not frequently utilized. Additionally, privacy settings and usage behavior of LINE were related to the perceived norm and perceived functional usefulness, but they were not related to Internet privacy concerns. During discussion, it was pointed out that evidence concerning privacy on social media should be collected in consideration of the distinct features of each form of social media.