 Send This Thread to a Friend |
Flemington, NJ, May 12, 2009 – A new national media study among 313 viewers of a news clip outlining Facebook’s censorship procedures revealed that an overwhelming majority (74%) were unaware that Facebook monitored and collected users’ messages and postings. The levels of awareness were exactly the same for Facebook members and non-members.
The study was conducted by the MediaCurves.com® website on May 11, to obtain Americans’ perceptions of the social networking site, Facebook, and its methods of censorship..
The study also revealed that more that half of respondents (52%) felt that Facebook does not have the right to censor user messages and content. When viewing results broken down by Facebook users and non-Facebook users, the results were almost identical.
Among the findings:
“Were you aware that Facebook collects information from messages
and content sent by their users?”
|
|
Total |
Facebook Users |
Non-Facebook Users |
|
Yes |
26% |
26% |
26% |
|
No |
74% |
74% |
74% |
“Do you think Facebook has the right to censor messages that they feel contains
‘illegal’ or ‘inappropriate’ content?”
|
|
Total |
Facebook Users |
Non-Facebook Users |
|
Yes |
48% |
47% |
49% |
|
No |
52% |
53% |
51% |
While viewing the video clip, participants indicated their levels of agreement by moving their mouse from left to right on a continuum. The responses were recorded in quarter-second intervals and reported in the form of curves. The participants were also asked to respond to post-viewing questions.
About MediaCurves.com
MediaCurves.com® (www.mediacurves.com) is a media measurement website that provides the media and general public with a venue to view Americans’ perceptions of popular and controversial media events and advertisements. MediaCurves.com is a service of HCD Research, a communications research company headquartered in Flemington, NJ. The company's services include traditional and web-based communications research. For additional information on HCD Research, access the company’s web site at www.hcdi.net or call HCD Research at 908-788-9393.
Editors/Reporters: For more information on the study, or to speak with Glenn Kessler, president and CEO, HCD Research, please contact Barbara Taylor, Director, MediaCurves.com division, HCD Research, at (908) 483-9146 or (barbara.taylor@hcdi.net). You can also receive updates from MediaCurves.com by following us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mediacurves.
