May 2023

Abstract Social media data is extensively used for various purposes, from personal conveniences to predicting global events. With over 4.62 billion users on social media, user confidentiality has become paramount. Many platforms provide free access to user-generated content. This open-source approach aids academic and research work but poses threats to user privacy. This paper, through extensive literature review, explores potential solutions to address privacy concerns.   Background Data Privacy in Social Media World Social media offers affordable, efficient communication, evidenced by its rapid growth [1]. Yet, sharing personal details inadvertently exposes users to privacy breaches [2]. For instance, inadvertently sharing one’s location during a medical visit might reveal health information. Any unauthorized publication of personal information, sensitive or not, compromises privacy [3].   Issue memo Online Social Networks (OSNs) like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, allow users to share personal updates. However, some shared content should remain private. Personal data protection became essential after recognizing its potential harm. [4] The processing of personal data is now legally regulated, upholding it as a fundamental right, either as a privacy right or specifically for personal data protection . Still, with the rise of OSNs, more sensitive information is accessible online. The inconsistency in data privacy laws across over 100 countries makes it challenging for companies to market products globally.   Impacts Privacy is a fundamental human right. [5] Large platforms like Facebook, with over 2.3 billion users, manage vast amounts of data. For example, in April 2018, unauthorized parties accessed the personal data of a million Indonesian Facebook users, creating a public outcry and raising concerns about privacy. Possible impacts of such breaches include: Reputation and Legal Liability: Unauthorized users might misuse public photos from social networks to deceive or misrepresent. Due to open source agreements, platforms might only delete infringing accounts upon request, seldom pursuing legal action. Identity Clone Attacks: Attackers might create fake profiles using stolen credentials, leading to online fraud. Stalking Risk: Sharing location data on platforms like Instagram might expose users to potential stalkers. Classic Threats: The advent of OSNs has seen a resurgence of spam, malware, phishing, and cross-site scripting attacks. Medical Data Exploitation: Unintentional location data leaks might lead to targeted ads based on recent medical visits.   Data privacy and Data ownership In regions like the UK and EU, data protection laws such as the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and General Data Protection Regulations 2016 (GDPR) govern personal data usage [6]. They enforce principles ensuring data’s legality, fairness, accuracy, and security. Yet, implementing these principles, especially regarding data collection, processing, and deletion, remains a challenge. The emergence of smart contracts offers potential solutions, offering transparency and a sense of data ownership. However, while promising, emerging technologies have limitations and challenges to overcome.   Conclusion Data privacy is integral to individual safety and societal trust. While there are myriad benefits to online platforms and data sharing, the potential for misuse is alarming. With varying legal landscapes worldwide, finding a universal solution is challenging. Technological advancements like blockchain offer hope, but their practicality and effectiveness need rigorous evaluation.   References [1] D. M. Boyd and N. B. Ellison, “Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship,” Journal of computer-mediated Communication, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 210–230, 2007. [2] T. Zhu, J. Li, X. Hu, P. Xiong, and W. Zhou, “The dynamic privacy preserving mechanisms for online dynamic social networks,” IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, vol. PP, no. 99, pp. 1–1, 2020. [3]Hu, Xiangyu et al. “Privacy Data Propagation and Preservation in Social Media: a Real-world Case Study.” IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering (2021): n. Pag1-2. [4]Warren, S., & Brandeis, L. D. (1890). The right to privacy. Harvard Law Review, 4(5), 193-220. [5]United Nations. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. [https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/] [6] Zhang R, Xue R, Liu L. Security and privacy on blockchain. ACM Comput Surv. 2019.

Executive Summary  With the growing screen time people spend on screen. Social media marketing has taken the top place in the beauty product industry. Nowadays, beauty product companies are investing crazy on social media platforms, but how and why can social media content influence users’ buying behaviors? To explore the research question, the researcher conducted four in-depth interviews on Glossier – a New York-based unicorn beauty brand that has earned great success from its smart social media branding strategy. As a Direct to Customer (DTC) brand, Glossier does not provide any offline purchase options. Instead, they market online and only sell products online. The strategy saved a massive amount of costs on sales and marketing and brought huge exposures to the brand.  The research method that has been used is qualitative interviews, which allows the researcher to capture the rich context of the consumer experience through their own words. We could derive valuable suggestions for other DTC online businesses by analyzing how social media fans turn into customers.    Rationale  Nowadays, social media has been widely used by enterprises as a marketing strategy tool. (Ajina, A.S. , 2019) Compared to traditional marketing channels, digital marketing seems broad reachable, offers more diverse choices, helps target users precisely, and has more potential to gain influence in the global market. (Chen, S.-C.; Lin, C.-P., 2019) With the growing screen time people spend on screen. Social media marketing has now taken the leading place in the beauty product industry. One of the most representative examples is Glossier – a New York-based beauty and skincare brand founded in 2012, now has reached $1.8 Billion Valuation and received 80 Million dollars funding in Series E financing. Its marketing strategy relies entirely on social media, subtly relies on the influencer sharing economy, and has achieved great success in a decade.  Due to the brand’s popularity, there are existing business analyses and press releases on the Internet about Glossier brand marketing, about how they can use the influencer economy to gain audiences for the brand and win business success – but this is not the whole recipe. As a new cosmetic company that has found new opportunities in a saturated market, Glossier has a deep understanding of consumer psychology, understands the concept of community-based communication, and provides customers with the ultimate consumer experience. However, there is no academic report that takes consumer experience as an entry point in this field. This report aims to fill the blank with four in-depth qualitative user experience interviews and analyses. We will explore the reasons behind the numbers with real user feedback, such as how and when social media influences customers buying behavior and what brands can do to encourage people’s engagement on the products.    Conceptualization  Social media has emerged as a prevalent form of digital communication in the fashion and beauty marketplace where consumers freely share their perceptions and feelings about a product or brand (Escobar-Rodríguez & Bonsón-Fernández, 2017). The majority of the world’s population uses the Internet as part of their day-to-day lives. Within this environment, social networking sites (SNSs) play a new form of communication channel in the recent era. (Evans, 2006). Interacting with consumers on Social Media may increase potential consumers and the probability of turning potential consumers into real shoppers. In addition to changing existing potential consumers into buyers, social media encourages those buyers to promote and share their purchases experience among their friends by giving their positive or negative opinions towards a purchased product (Parson, 2013).  Social media has emerged as a prevalent form of digital communication in the fashion and beauty marketplace where consumers freely share their perceptions and feelings about a product or brand (Escobar-Rodríguez & Bonsón-Fernández, 2017). Except for content generated by the brand, the experiences customers share on online communities also influence how other shoppers perceive products and make decisions (Braverman, 2008).  Glossier values and encourages users to share their real experiences with products on social media platforms as a leader in emerging beauty brands. And to encourage users to share, the brand invited many influencers to the event and asked them to share their feelings about using the product through social media. This decision earned Glossier a tremendous amount of exposure and brought attention to the brand in a short period.  All business reports are praising Glossier’s decision to be in line with the trend of the times, and that is an intelligent choice. However, will users pull out their wallets to buy products because they see Influencer’s sharing? The answer is always not that simple. Out of curiosity about the real motivations of consumers’ buying decisions, the author conducted interviews with four lovely real-world users of Glossier.    Methodology  The research method that has been used is qualitative interviews, which allows the researcher to capture the rich context of the consumer experience through their own words. The researcher conducted 4 In-depth interviews of consumers of Glossier. Study participation was solicited from consumers born between 1994 and 2002. To identify the qualified interviewees, individuals who own at least one Glossier product and have browsed Glossier’s official site or social media content were initially identified.  The researcher provided the interviewees with a series of predesigned open-ended or descriptive questions from which additional information will be obtained. By recording the process that social media users turned into customers of the brand, researchers can identify the influences that Glossier’s strategy brought to customers.  Interview questions were designed in chronological order to help respondents recall how they knew Glossier, converted to consumers and contributed to the social media community. According to the feedback content, the whole process will be divided into four stages, from receiving attraction from the social media to the feedback on the product.  The researchers will record and compare the feedback given by different users at different stages to explore what factors influence users’ decisions and behaviors.  To obtain more information from diverse experiences, for users with unique feedback, the researchers provided a series of follow-up questions: What made you