Americans unsure of social media privacy

New York – Many Americans are unsure of the level of privacy afforded by social media communications. According to a new survey of 1,141 U.S. adults from research and consulting company YouGov shows that 57% of respondents did not think social media was a good method to send private messages.



In addition, older users are less likely to venture into the realms of private messaging than younger users. Two-thirds (67%) of 18-34-year-olds have used Facebook's private messages compared to only 41% of those 55 and older.



Older users are also unsure about the status of messages. Twenty-seven percent of those aged 55 and older are not sure when their messages are private and when they are public compared to only 16% of 18-34-year-olds. Many people (50%) assume that any message, even if it starts as a private message, might be made public.