At the same time in which social media connects individuals, it also engenders a new form of communication. In networks where a virtual reality exists, individuals can create different profiles for themselves, representing themselves as different from their true selves. Apart from this differentiation type, social value judgments have also begun to effect change and transformation in social media. It is important to discuss change and transformation in terms of the perception of privacy, which is a concept that is very different when considered within the bounds of social media.

The concept of confidentiality is very different online than it is within a community gathering environment. Online, the concept of confidentiality is treated differently by different groups even within the same society. In addition, privacy changes all the time. Individuals who participate in online sharing do not want to be excluded from the society. They also want to be part of the individual community, to share private things, and to open up their private lives to some degree, even as they also want to control what they share from their private lives. This situation reveals a lot of meaning about privacy. The right to privacy describes not only the individual’s positive obligations, but also the responsibility to protect the privacy of other individuals. This means that the individual has to stay away from other individuals’ private information in order to protect their own privacy as well as to protect the other individuals’ privacy. According to Simone Fischer-Hübner, privacy has three main characteristics: privacy of information, protection from unjust interference, and protection of an individual’s personal data. Privacy of information includes spatial privacy, which is the expression of the close physical area around the individual and includes their intimate space. Protection from unjust interference includes an individual’s right to be protected from interference by others. Lastly, protection of an individual’s personal data and decisions refers to the collection, preservation, and distribution of these data (Tanılır, 2002, p. 43).

Although the concept of privacy can be sub-divided into spatial and information confidentiality, the definitions of these categories differ by culture; there are different perspectives, boundaries, and perceptions that encompass cultural, social, and collective differences. Social media has become a popular source of information sharing, especially among young people. Young people use social media to maintain these relationships by establishing virtual connections. The structural features of social media contribute to confidentiality concerns with regard to the sharing of information in public spaces. Stein and Sinha define privacy as the individual’s right to be independent, to be left alone, and to decide how information about them will be available to others (Livingstone, 2016, p. 99).

The concept of accessibility has gained a new meaning because individuals want to socialize and still protect their privacy through social media. This situation leads to the human being’s mobilization through social networks and all kinds of communication being networked, causing confidentiality to be unprotected and semantically empty. The analysis of privacy on social media provides a framework to define three structured levels for privacy and confidentiality values. The questionnaire format was used to examine the privacy aspects of young people’s lives and their opinions about the future structure of privacy. In this study, changes in privacy and accessibility awareness are examined through social media. In addition, a survey was conducted on the transformation in the perception of privacy and privacy with regard to the use of social networking sites for social interaction. In this context, Istanbul University Communication Faculty and Istanbul University Hasan Ali Yücel Faculty of Education used a questionnaire to identify the areas of confidentiality in the use of social media and evaluated the results. For this purpose, we measured the change, transformation, and the privacy awareness of people who are living in confrontation with social media applications. In a more concrete way, 386 university students participated in answering the questionnaire so that we were able to attempt to explain the collected data.

The questionnaire asked students about their social media usage and habits. According to the results, 89.4% answered “Yes” to the question “Do you have a social media account?” The answer to the question about the reason for not closing social media accounts to the students was answered as “I am getting my time” by 13.0 percent. The reason for the general closure of social media accounts is the excessive time spent on social media.

We see that the information students do not hesitate to share when they answer the questions about sharing behavior via social media are ‘Photo / Video’, ‘School Name’, and ‘My place of residence (home)’. We also learned that the sharing of photographs, videos, school names, and location–location information in social media as used for students’ purposes is not considered objectionable.

Shares that students never made through their social media accounts included ‘Political Opinion’, ‘Mobile Phone’, and ‘Private Life’. Therefore, we see that information that is thought to be confidential is kept private and is never shared through accounts.

According to the questionnaire, social media provides ‘Friendship’ and ‘Time’ for what the user gets, and ‘Time’ for the question of what the user loses. Therefore, we see that social media can be advantageous when used correctly over time and disadvantageous when used incorrectly.

“I am concerned about seeing or reaching third parties that I do not know with personal information on social media,” “I am afraid to come face-to-face with someone I meet on social media,” and “I see social media as a private field” are all collected observations. These responses show that students are internalizing social media and that they consider it to consist of private areas and therefore think they should protect their social media accounts.

What is the general meaning of student privacy? They were asked to respond to this question with ‘Confidentiality’, ‘Private domain’, and ‘Respect for personal rights’. In response to the question “What is your private area where you can choose more than one option?” they answered “Private Life,” “Home,” and “Workplace.” In answer to “What is privacy in social media?” student responses included “Do not share private,” “Private domain,” “Do not use unauthorized photographs and videos,” and “Do not make unauthorized interpretations.” In the light of these answers, we see that the sharing of private information describes the state of the sharing of privacy, the sharing of private space, and the sharing of the space belonging to the person. The research results show that the “province” describes the individual’s private areas. Cultural codes opened the door to a house to only the nearest people, family members, and relatives. However, while the priority is approached with sensitivity, it is no longer a problem to share images of our houses on social media, even though they are important private places. It is common now to see all photos and videos taken inside a house shared on social media.

Looking at others’ photos and videos has become the most important ritual of human life. Social networks provide the easiest way to see into the lives of others. It is interesting that seeing others’ lives does not actually give anything new to the user; it only gives information. In turn, individuals who feel knowledgeable about what is happening attach importance to themselves and live in the happiness of simply seeing and knowing. People are known by as much as they exist in social networks, where popularity is measured.

In summary, our questionnaire data shows how the perception of privacy in social media has changed and transformed. While students generally regard privacy as confidential information, they have changed the meaning of the concept of privacy.