Questionnaire - Facebook Privacy Issues

I have created a questionnaire to gather some primary, quantitative information about what User's think of Facebook's current privacy standards. I will distribute this questionnaire online and in person to 30+ Users between the ages of 18-35. The questionnaires will be completed anonymously by the User's so that no prejudice will take place when counting the results.

The questionnaire;

1. Do you use Facebook? (If no, please answer the following questions as if you do)

a. Yes

b. No

2. How often do you use it?

a. At least once a day

b. Once to a few times a week

c. Less than once a week

3. Is your Facebook profile...?

a. Completely hidden (not even friends can view your personal details)

b. Partially hidden (only friends can view it)

c. Completely open (anyone can view it)

4. Do you think personal information on Facebook is too easily available to others?

a. Yes

b. No

5. Have you ever had unwanted contact via Facebook?

a. Yes

b. No

6. Do you find it easy to change your Facebook profile privacy settings?

a. Yes

b. No

7. What do you share on Facebook?

a. Everything (birthday, relationships, address, phone number, interests, photos, job etc..)

b. Some things (interests, some photos etc..)

c. Not much (name, some interests)

8. Finally, do you think the availability level of User information to the public is acceptable?

a. Yes

b. No

Academic Paper Topics

I have been racking my brains to try and find a suitable topic for my Academic Paper, it has got to have something to do with a current issue in Computing so I have been looking mainly on the BBC News Technology website.

Originally I had come up with a few ideas, such as;

• The new Samsung Galaxy S, a look into whether or not it's functionality is in fact better than that of the iPhone 4
• Mobile browsing - is it accessible enough for everyone?
• The need for fluent website designs in current times, as monitor screens are constantly changing and increasing in size.

Although I am interested in all of these ideas, I thought I should probably go for something that I feel more strongly about. On the BBC News website I was reading about Facebook, and how the privacy of the User details (i.e. email addresses, phone numbers etc) are sometimes available to others without the User's knowledge. This could be a major issue in social networking and it could be argued that if used properly it is not an issue at all - however not everyone is so computer-literate so again, this could cause problems.

So for the title for my Academic Paper I would like something along the lines of; "Social Networking vs User Privacy".

I do feel quite strongly on the topic, and there is the added advantage that many articles have been written for and against this ongoing, current issue.