{"id":3052,"date":"2014-08-25T10:23:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-25T16:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trustarc.com\/?post_type=resource&p=3052"},"modified":"2025-01-03T12:24:59","modified_gmt":"2025-01-03T18:24:59","slug":"social-media-experiments-invasion-privacy","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/trustarc.com\/resource\/social-media-experiments-invasion-privacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Are Social Media Experiments Considered An Invasion of Privacy?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Why Are Social Media Experiments Considered An Invasion of Privacy?<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\t
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Social media is very personal<\/h2>\n

We all use it differently\u2014which reflects the real world\u2026we all socialize in different ways. But when news broke of social media experiments by popular channels, users were outraged. But why is our expectation of privacy so high on the very channels where we share the most?<\/p>\n

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Facebook\u2019s 2012 experiment tested nearly 700,000 users\u2019 emotional responses to their news feeds to vet a theory on the transferability of mood. Facebook manipulated users\u2019 news feeds to show them content that was either predominately negative or positive, analyzing users\u2019 emotional responses by examining verbiage and frequency in their own status updates.<\/p>\n

Soon after, OKCupid admitted it had also experimented on users. To test users\u2019 response to its match algorithm, OKCupid falsified its \u201cmatch\u201d data\u2014pairs who were a low match (30%) were shown as a strong match (90%), and vice versa.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret that Americans are becoming increasingly concerned about online privacy.<\/h2>\n

The TRUSTe Consumer Confidence Index 2014 showed that 90% of Americans are concerned about privacy in social media. Never has this been more evident than through the public\u2019s\u00a0response<\/a>\u00a0to the Facebook experiment\u201484% of users said they had lost trust in Facebook, and 66% considered deleting their Facebook accounts because of the experiment. Users said the experiment was using them as \u201clab rats.\u201d<\/p>\n

The responses show that users felt betrayed, that they felt used as pawns in psychological experiments drawn up to test the efficacy of the social media products themselves, that they had been lied to or given false information, and that the practices were unethical. The response revealed that\u00a0users find this kind of experimentation unsettling and a serious breach of privacy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The fury over the experiments is interesting because social media apps revolve around users voluntarily sharing information online. Many would argue that, by its nature, a social media platform is one where users should have the weakest expectation of privacy. Moreover, advertising companies have been using psychological studies to improve the efficacy and relevance of advertising for generations.<\/p>\n

Lastly, the emotionally charged responses to the experiments do not typify what users say about privacy generally.<\/p>\n

What makes social media experiments different, and what is responsible for the outrage?<\/h3>\n

A lot of discussion has centered on the lack of user consent and transparency, questioning whether the experiments were ethical. Sen. Mark Warner called for an FTC investigation, saying the experiment\u00a0\u201cinvites questions about whether procedures should be in place for this type of research.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Several researchers, academics, lawyers, and media outlets have questioned whether the study complies with the APA\u2019s ethical principles of psychological research.<\/p>\n

These are all valid questions. Notice and consent are pillars of privacy \u2014 but I think that examining the public\u2019s response shows that the issue is deeper. The outcry in response to the experiments indicates that\u00a0users have two unique expectations of social media: heightened expectations of privacy and higher levels of trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n

These unique expectations can be drawn to the nature of social networks<\/h4>\n

Social media is where we share personal details, thoughts, and images with people we know (or, in OKCupid\u2019s case, would like to know). It\u2019s where we go to catch up with friends and family. It\u2019s where we share personal milestones. These are personal, sometimes intimate, details. Despite the semi-public nature of information on social media, users have a different, higher expectation of privacy when they are present.<\/p>\n

The response to the experiments also suggests that users have a higher level of trust in social media. This makes sense because the environment is personalized, it is curated, and it is our own. We go to social media to interface with \u201cfamiliar faces\u201d\u2014we choose who we share this information with. Social media is a sort of online \u201chome.\u201d Law and society have long recognized the home as a sacred place, and experiments that manipulate our \u201conline homes\u201d may feel like the most serious transgression.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This article was first published in\u00a0MediaPost<\/a>\u00a0on 8\/20\/14<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t

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