In this lecture, “Interactivity and Privacy—Can We Have Both?”, S. Shyman Sundar examines the allure of online interactivity, the challenge of protecting privacy, and users’ attempts to assert their agency. While the interactivity in modern digital media provides unprecedented opportunities for interaction and expression, it can also compromise privacy. Sundar uses empirical data from studies conducted by his lab group to demonstrate the complex psychology behind interactivity and how online users make daily decisions about revealing and withholding personal information.

S. Shyam Sundar is a distinguished professor and the founding director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory in the College of Communications at Penn State University.