July 15, 2010 -- According to a recent poll by The Marist Institute for Public Opinion, half of U.S. adults who have a profile on social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn worry about their privacy.

The poll showed that 27% of the 1,004 people surveyed are concerned about privacy on social networking websites, and a further 23% are very concerned.  Nearly three out of 10 (29%) are not very concerned, and 21% are not concerned at all.

The Marist poll finds that people over 60 are the most worried about privacy, and women are more concerned than men.

Overall, 43% of respondents say they keep in touch with friends and family via social networking websites while 57%, however, do not. There has been little change in the response to this question since Marist last asked it in December 2009.

About this survey:  1,004 U.S. 18+ adults polled between June 17-June 24, 2010. Residents 18 years of age and older were interviewed by telephone. Telephone numbers were selected based upon a list of telephone exchanges from throughout the nation. The exchanges were selected to ensure that each region was represented in proportion to its population. To increase coverage, this land-line sample was supplemented by respondents reached through random dialing of cell phone numbers. The two samples were then combined. Results are statistically significant at ±3.0%. There are 410 residents who have a profile on a social networking site. The results for this subset are statistically significant at ±5.0%. The error margin increases for cross-tabulations.

Source:  Marist Poll. Half of Social Networkers Online Concerned About Privacy, July 14, 2010.