Resisting online manipulation: how teens perceive and respond to privacy dark patterns on social media

Purpose This study examines how teens perceive and respond to privacy-undermining design strategies – or “privacy dark patterns” – on social networking sites (SNSs). Specifically, we sought to ascertain whether teens can identify privacy dark patterns on social media and to determine how teens respond to these patterns, including documenting any strategies they use to resist them. Design/methodology/approach We conducted four virtual focus groups with Canadian teens aged 13 to 17. In breakout rooms, participants guided a research assistant’s actions while the assistant set up a social networking site account. Participants were instructed to make the account as private as possible and consider how the site’s design could influence their choices. Participants then returned to the main Zoom session and discussed the privacy dark patterns they identified and their strategies for resistance. Findings Our results show that teens can identify a wide range of privacy dark patterns and strategies for resistance when instructed to set up a private social media account and look for design strategies that could influence their behavior. However, teens reported low awareness of how interface design could impact their privacy choices before participating in the study. Teens also failed to identify privacy dark patterns that operated by increasing the salience of certain visual elements. Practical implications Educators should ask teens to consider how social media design influences their privacy choices through hands-on activities. However, the effects of these exercises might not persist during teens’ everyday social media use. Originality/value Little research has specifically investigated how teens respond to dark patterns.