Privacy in new media in Israel: How social networks are helping to shape the perception of privacy in Israeli society

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to draw a new map confronting the issue of privacy in the new media age in general, and in the State of Israel in particular.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents an in‐depth review based on professional literature covering the topics of privacy, new media, social networks, and Israel. The paper considers all citizens of Israel (both Jewish and non‐Jewish), the vast majority (over 80 percent), however, of which are Jewish.

Findings

The study has found that even though Israeli social network users may be aware of online privacy issues, their adoption of online sharing and exposure, while partly due to third person effect, is to a great extent a reflection of the Israeli collective ethos which emphasises the importance of community and emotional and material sharing.

Originality/value

The study proposes a new classification of privacy exposures and violations by analyzing the nature of privacy violations inherent in the new media. The paper then discusses the unique cultural and normative manifestations of this issue in Israeli society.

Citation

Karniel, Y. and Lavie‐Dinur, A. (2012), "Privacy in new media in Israel: How social networks are helping to shape the perception of privacy in Israeli society", Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 288-304. https://doi.org/10.1108/14779961211285908