Instagram: Risk Habituation, Optimism Bias and Privacy Paradox

Partially open online social networking platforms such as Instagram are posing privacy and security risks. Still, the use of such applications is widespread, and their adoption has surpassed media-information literacy in developing nations, facilitating online privacy threats. In the present study, a quantitative survey of Instagram users is used to examine how anonymity and managed self-disclosure are used as privacy management measures on this imagery-based online social media application, Instagram. As many as 265 student-Instagram users are selected for this study using a convenience sampling technique, and the examination window is February–June 2024. How is Instagram used? What are the perceived privacy-related risks and benefits? How is the sharing of personal information managed? Which of these factors are related to self-disclosure of personal information on Instagram? To answer these pressing questions, and for a deeper exploration of the enigma of privacy paradox, variables such as usage (generic and specific), self-disclosure and perceived benefits and risks of self-disclosure are measured and associated. Further, these variables are associated with demographic variables for a holistic understanding of privacy management. The study results identify the existence of the privacy paradox and use the explanations of risk habituation and optimism bias to support the theory.