When "Likers'' Go Private: Engagement With Reputationally Risky Content on X
Summary
This arXiv CS.SI paper investigates whether making liker identities private on X reduces reputational risk for engagement with high-risk content. It uses a Difference-in-Differences analysis on 154,122 posts from 1,068 accounts and a within-subject survey of 203 users to assess changes in likes and willingness to engage. The study finds no detectable platform-wide increase in likes for high-reputational-risk content after the policy change, with results consistent across account risk levels and engagement types. The survey shows only modest increases in willingness to like such content under privacy, which do not translate into significant behavioral changes at the group level. The authors suggest the limited effect could be due to intention-behavior gaps or the influence of automated/high-usage accounts.