Shielding SNS content from parents: a survey investigating perspectives of emerging adults who have recently left the parental home

ABSTRACT Emerging adults are increasingly “unfriending” their parents on Social Networking Sites (SNS). A survey among 300 emerging adults who recently moved out of the parental home investigated whether family communication patterns were related to shielding of SNS content from parents and whether perceived undesirability of privacy invasion mediated this relation. Structural equation modeling analyses showed that emerging adults from high conformity-oriented families reported higher perceived undesirability of privacy invasion, which related to higher shielding of SNS content. In contrast, emerging adults from high conversation-oriented families reported lower perceived undesirability of privacy invasion, which related to lower shielding of SNS content.