People increasingly share personal aspects about themselves and others on social media, including disclosures of concealable stigmatized identities (CSIs). Despite the commonality of such disclosures, little is known about the nature of online content or feedback received when people reveal their own versus other people's CSIs, including those associated with varying levels of stigma. We analyzed 2,042 TikTok videos with 111,705 comments systematically scraped from the hashtags #clinicaldepression, #depression, and #schizophrenia. We hand-coded videos and comments for disclosure types, examined video comment feedback using natural language processing, and investigated key relationships via mixed-effects regression models. The findings indicate that social media users posting videos associated with a comparatively less stigmatized mental health hashtag were more likely to disclose a CSI than those posting videos under a more stigmatized hashtag. Social media users were more likely to disclose other people's CSIs in reference to the more stigmatized, as opposed to a less stigmatized diagnosis. In addition, users commenting on posts were more likely to disclose another person's CSI if the initial post included such a disclosure. In general, all categories of video posts received positive feedback. However, videos that included a disclosure received comparatively more positive feedback than videos without a disclosure. Videos that disclosed someone else's CSI information received less positive feedback than videos where the author disclosed their own CSI. Implications for CSI disclosure and interdependent privacy in social media are discussed.

Interdependent privacy (IDP) violations occur when users share personal information about others without permission, resulting in potential embarrassment, reputation loss, or harassment. There are several strategies that can be applied to protect IDP, but little is known regarding how social media users perceive IDP threats or how they prefer to respond to them. We utilized a mixed-method approach with a replication study to examine user beliefs about various government-, platform-, and user-level strategies for managing IDP violations. Participants reported that IDP represented a 'serious' online threat, and identified themselves as primarily responsible for responding to violations. IDP strategies that felt more familiar and provided greater perceived control over violations (e.g., flagging, blocking, unfriending) were rated as more effective than platform or government driven interventions. Furthermore, we found users were more willing to share on social media if they perceived their interactions as protected. Findings are discussed in relation to control paradox theory.

“Interdependent” privacy violations occur when users share private photos and information about other people in social media without permission. This research investigated user characteristics associated with interdependent privacy perceptions, by asking social media users to rate photo-based memes depicting strangers on the degree to which they were too private to share. Users also completed questionnaires measuring social media usage and personality. Separate groups rated the memes on shareability, valence, and entertainment value. Users were less likely to share memes that were rated as private, except when the meme was entertaining or when users exhibited dark triad characteristics. Users with dark triad characteristics demonstrated a heightened awareness of interdependent privacy and increased sharing of others’ photos. A model is introduced that highlights user types and characteristics that correspond to different privacy preferences: privacy preservers, ignorers, and violators. We discuss how interventions to support interdependent privacy must effectively influence diverse users.