Abstract:
The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between willingness to
leave a digital footprint on social networking sites of Sri Lankan social networking
site users and personal factors, social factors, technical factors, and privacy and
security. Social networking sites can be identified as networks and applications that
allow the user to create and share content through the internet; Facebook,
YouTube, Twitter etc. Everything people do in the digital world is a digital
footprint; photos, comments, views etc. Personal factors are identified with
openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and emotional stability.
Social factors influence social capital and social relations. Technology factor is
based on ease of use, easy to adapt, perceived benefits. Privacy and security
describe ability, integrity and predictability. Today social networking sites have
come to a very different level by improving its’ facilities. The community uses
several digital devices to interact with social networking sites; mobile phones, tabs,
laptops etc. the research is focused on social networking site user behaviour.So, it is
important for users to identify other social networking sites users. Also, this
research help government to create new rules and regulations to manipulate digital
worldethics. This research provides literature to future researchers. The population
of the study is all social networking site users in Sri Lanka. An online structured
questionnaire method was selected to collect primary data. A questionnaire is
distributed among 56 social networking site users. Cronbach Alpha and test-retest
method for reliability test and descriptive statistical analysis tools such as
frequency, mean, standard deviation and variation were used. Findings of this
research indicate privacy and security has a significant relationship with
willingness to leave a digital footprint on the social network in Sri Lanka. But
personal factors, social factors, and technological factors have no relationship with
willingness to leave a digital footprint on the social network in Sri Lanka.
