Exploring the Impact of Media Awareness on Privacy Concerns among Social Media Users: A Case Study of TikTok

TikTok's widespread popularity in the United States, despite ongoing media reports highlighting user privacy risks and concerns, raises a critical question about the role of media awareness in shaping privacy concerns, cybersecurity risk perception, and privacy protection behaviors among American TikTok users. Using a privacy calculus perspective, this study surveyed 1,202 TikTok users recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk and employed structural equation modeling to analyze relationships among the key variables. The findings reveal that media awareness significantly predicted privacy concerns and cybersecurity risk perceptions, indicating that users more aware of media coverage are more likely to recognize potential privacy risks. Moreover, privacy concerns, in turn, mediated the relationship between media awareness and both cybersecurity risk perceptions and privacy protection behaviors, suggesting an increased awareness of digital risks. Individual factors like privacy awareness, prior victimization, and gratification levels were significant predictors of privacy concerns. This study underscores the critical role of media in shaping public perceptions of digital privacy risks and highlights the need for balanced reporting to avoid sensationalism. Implications include promoting digital literacy, enhancing platform transparency, and addressing individual privacy needs to foster safer online behaviors and trust in social media platforms.