For every parent who ever wondered what the heck their teens were thinking when they posted risky information or pictures on social media, a team of Penn State researchers suggests that they were not really thinking at all, or at least were not thinking like most adults do. In a study, the researchers report that the way teens learn how to manage privacy risk online is much different than how adults approach privacy management. While most adults think first and then ask questions, teens tend to take the risk and then seek help, said Haiyan Jia, post-doctoral scholar in information sciences and technology.

"Adults often find this very difficult to understand and paradoxical because they are so used to considering possible risks of disclosing information online first and then taking the necessary precautions, based on those concerns," said Jia. "What our model suggests is that teens don't think this way -- they disclose and then evaluate the consequences. The process is more experiential in nature for teens."

This disclose-first-and-then-make-corrections model may lend insight into what researchers refer to as the privacy paradox, according to Pamela Wisniewski, a post-doctoral scholar in information sciences and technology, who worked with Jia.

Wisniewski said that the privacy paradox suggests that there is a disconnect between the privacy concerns of teens and what information they disclose.

"For adults, the basic model is that different factors contribute to an individual's concern for his or her information privacy and based on that privacy concern the user takes certain actions, for example, disclosing less information," said Wisniewski. "This is a very rational, adult-focused model, however, that doesn't seem applicable to teens."