Risks of Harm through Social Media Use: Scams and How Users Respond

Media reports abound of harm that can occur to the individual when using social media, from financial, emotional to psychological. To date, research around online harm and mitigation has tended to focus on specific risks such as phishing scams and identity theft. Some studies have explored the influence of factors such as age, cognitive ability, education, personality and risk propensity; while others have examined the effects of the type of attack, e.g. investment scam, on scam compliance. However, few studies, if any, have explored the individual’s approach to the holistic notion of potential risk and harm that might occur through social media use, particularly scams, given that one seldom knows what sort of, when and where such an attack may occur. This study aims to address this gap in the research. Informed by, amongst others, Protection Motivation Theory (Rogers, 1975), Reactance Theory (Brehm, 1966) and Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985), exploratory interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 25 individuals to ascertain (1) their knowledge and/or experience of scams and consequent harm in social media use and (2) their mitigation responses. Findings indicate a range of scam knowledge and experience. Financial damage occurred most frequently, and often significant emotional harm. A variety of tactics was embraced by the interviewees in order to mitigate the potential harm of social media use. These ranged from becoming expert in certain types of attacks, to adopting a head-in-the-sand approach. Various demographic, personality and contextual factors seemed to contribute to vulnerability and favoured mitigating tactics. Suggestions are provided as to how to provide holistic guidance to users and the role of banks, social media and regulatory/advisory bodies. Areas of future research are also indicated.