Privacy in Crisis: A study of self-disclosure during the Coronavirus pandemic

2020/04/21 by Taylor Blose, Prasanna Umar, Blose, Taylor +5
Psychology · Social Sciences · #COVID-19 and Mental Health #Computers and Society (cs.CY) #Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Privacy, Security, and Data Protection #Social and Information Networks (cs.SI)

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2004.09717

openalex publication_date 2020/04/21 · openalex created_date 2020/05/01 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

We study observed incidence of self-disclosure in a large dataset of Tweets representing user-led English-language conversation about the Coronavirus pandemic. Using an unsupervised approach to detect voluntary disclosure of personal information, we provide early evidence that situational factors surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic may impact individuals' privacy calculus. Text analyses reveal topical shift toward supportiveness and support-seeking in self-disclosing conversation on Twitter. We run a comparable analysis of Tweets from Hurricane Harvey to provide context for observed effects and suggest opportunities for further study.

Citations

• Threshold Models of Collective Behavior
• Overcoming Online Information Privacy Concerns: An Information-Processing Theory Approach
• When Social Networking Is Not Working
• A Twitter Tale of Three Hurricanes: Harvey, Irma, and Maria
• Multidisciplinary research priorities for the COVID-19 pandemic: a call for action for mental health science

Related

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