Nigerian Youths’ Perception of Privacy and their Self Disclosure on Social Media

We investigated Nigerian youths’ perception of privacy and its influence on the nature and extent of their self-disclosure on social media. Drawing on Social Penetration and Privacy Calculus theory, quantitative and qualitative content analysis of respondents’ Facebook posts was conducted for two weeks, while a survey was used to investigate privacy concerns and perceptions among 389 undergraduate students from two tertiary institutions in Kwara State. Findings revealed the manifestation of the privacy paradox among Nigerian youths and that, although the Nigerian youths had a negative perception of privacy, they engaged in habitual self-disclosure, using the relational self-disclosure mechanism.