When private and professional lives meet: The impact of digital footprints on employees and political candidates

Abstract

We present the results of a between-subjects survey with 459 participants to gather opinions of privacy and how such online content should impact job candidates and political candidates, respectively. Our analysis explores differences between the two scenarios, and whether demographic characteristics influence users' perspectives towards politicians and/or employees. Overall, respondents were less tolerant of the online activities of political candidates. We conclude the paper with a discussion of how the concept of online privacy is evolving in this age of social media.