What Hinders Us? Behavioral Barriers in Different Social Media Scenarios: An Empirical Analysis Based on Red Book Users

Abstract

This study explores how four behavioral factors shape users' behaviors across three distinct social situations on the platform Rednote. The four factors in this study are the fear of encountering opposing opinions, the perceived time and energy required, feelings of incapability, and the loss of anonymity. To collect empirical evidence, the group sent a survey to 122 users (n=122). The results indicate that the three psychological factors and privacy considerations put notable influences on users' willingness to act in different social situations on Rednote. Each scenario has its primary hindering factor. When it comes to the situation of commenting on news items, "the feelings of incapability" acts as the main barrier; responding to help requests is hindered by both the factors "fear of opposing opinions" and "loss of anonymity"; and "fear of anonymity" strongly discourage people's willingness to share sensitive personal experiences. Furthermore, in this study, the group found that anonymity impacts user behaviors through three key channels: the identifiability of one's account, the level of difference from one's real-life identity, and the concealment of geographical details. Also, the findings verify the Privacy Calculus Theory, indicating that a higher level of perceived anonymity effectively promotes users' online expression, sharing and prosocial behaviors by reducing the perceived risk of identity exposure and privacy-related costs. To sum up, this study highlights that these inhibitory factors interact in distinct ways, shaping user behaviors across different platform scenarios.