Cybersecurity Challenges in Social Media Erdal Ozkaya

6.3.2
 
Discussion of results from the primary data 
Moving on to the research carried out by this paper, there were many people invited to 
take a lengthy online questionnaire that spanned over a number of issues and the first valid 
110 responses were taken for analysis. The first question aimed at establishing the age 
brackets of the users and it turned out that there were many respondents on social media aged 
between 18 and 28 years. This is the age that has most social media users as these young 
people try to explore various exciting social media platforms. They are great content 
generators because some are in school and others are very young in their adult lives and do 
not have many other responsibilities. They are early adopters of online shopping and thus 
online ads suit them more. Next, most of the respondents had an education level of up to an 
undergraduate degree and a few had a Master’s degree and PhDs. There seemed to be a close 
link between education levels and age brackets. The respondents at the bottom of both age 
and education pyramids are the most active on social media and thus the most important 
content creators.
 

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Age groups of the respondents 
 
Table 2:Age groups of the respondents 
Age group 
Number of respondents 
18-23 
50 
24-28 
33 
29-33 
11 
34-39 
10 
40-45 
6 
The pie chart below is a representation of the data in table 2. As can be observed, 
most of the respondents were in the age groups of 18-23 and 24-28. 
Figure 4: Age bracket of users 
 
 
46.00%
30.00%
10.00%
9.00%
5.00%
Age brackets of users
18-23 years
24-28 years
29-33 years
34-39 years
40-45 years

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Table 3: Literacy levels of the respondents 
Literacy level 
Number 
Undergraduate and below 
66 
Masters 
28 
PhD 
16 
The pie chart below represents the data from the table above. As can be observed, 
most of the respondents were literate only up to an undergraduate level of education. 
Figure 5:shows the % of the literacy levels
It was also established that 95% of the users did not have an amateur level of 
computer literacy. This means that they did not study courses related to IT up to advanced 
levels. 45% humbly ranked themselves as having a beginner level of computer literacy. These 
could be said to be the most vulnerable because they mostly lied low when it came to age and 
education level. This was the group that was more prone to being oblivious to the security 
and privacy issues in social media. This was the group that ought to receive more protection 
and advice concerning their online security. 50% of the respondents claimed to be at a 
60.00%
25.00%
15.00%
% of the literacy levels
Undergraduate and below
Master’s degree
PhD

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professional computer literacy level, meaning that a substantial number of respondents were 
aware of these online security and privacy issues.
The respondents were asked to select their most favorite social media platforms. It 
came as no surprise when they ranked Google Plus and Facebook to be their least favorite 
social media platforms. Facebook has of late being receiving its fair share of criticisms due to 
its intrusive approach to advertising at the cost of users’ privacy. That is why it was rated the 
second least favorite social media platform after Google Plus. Many people have a general 
dislike for Google Plus probably due to its unsocial like and unfamiliar appearance (Magno et 
al., 2012). It is easy for a Twitter user to use Instagram because some metaphors and labels 
are shared by the two. The same holds true for Facebook. Coming to Google Plus, it has an 
unfamiliar appearance, it stacks posts in a different way, it uses unfamiliar terms such as 
circles, and it is not easy to use for new users. Secondly, people hate the way that Google has 
been forcing its adoption using dubious ways such as forcing people to sign in to leave 
comments on YouTube. This is such a poor strategy; users do not want to be forced to sign 
into multiple platforms to accomplish a small task such as saying ‘thank you' on a YouTube 
clip. Another reason why Google Plus is ranked as the least favorite is because most people 
know that it was launched just after Facebook to offer competition, and it failed miserably. 
Unlike Facebook, it did not receive adoption and anyone who tried to use it would find that 
his/her friends were not on it. Users are the critical ingredients in social media platforms 
without which the platforms would simply crumble due to lack of exciting user-generated 
content. Facebook is headed in that direction too; people are posting less and less each 
passing day. The user base is almost at a stagnant with a decline in new sign ups. Twitter and 
Instagram were ranked the most favorite because they are mostly used by the youth. It is a 
safe hiding place from parents who opened Facebook accounts over 9 years ago. LinkedIn is 

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mostly preferred by professionals; the network stands out as the most professionally 
organized platform.