“Privacy is dead”: a thematic discourse analysis of privacy fatigue in Reddit’s r/privacy community : master's thesis

Soldat, Marija (author), Montagna, Nicola (mentor), Petrič, Gregor (comentor)

This thesis studies how privacy fatigue is constructed in online discourse with qualitative thematic discourse analysis of Reddit’s r/privacy community. Existing research focuses on privacy fatigue as an individual psychological state, characterised by fatigue, cynicism, and a lower level of motivation to manage private data. Less attention, however, has been given to how privacy fatigue is expressed, shared, normalised, and contested within online communities. This thesis addresses this gap by treating privacy fatigue as a discursive and socio-technical phenomenon. The research is based on a purposive sample of 20 Reddit threads and 2,529 user comments. The analysis is focused on how users construct privacy loss, control, agency, responsibility, and resistance. The findings show that users frame privacy loss as pervasive, normalised, and difficult to reverse. The protection of their privacy is seen as burdensome, repetitive, and only partially effective, while disclosure of personal data is often constructed as forced and not a free choice. Users show fatigue through resignation, frustration, cynicism, and loss of control. But these expressions do not indicate indifference. This thesis shows that privacy fatigue is not only experienced individually but is socially constructed through discourse. It contributes to privacy fatigue research by reframing the privacy paradox around constrained agency rather than individual inconsistency, and by demonstrating that, in online discussions, resignation and resistance can coexist. Limitations include a single focus on one community, purposive sampling, and reliance on only naturally occurring Reddit discourse rather than interviews or surveys. Future research could compare privacy fatigue in other communities, platforms, and contexts.

• Language: English
• Keywords: privacy fatigue, privacy paradox, discourse analysis, digital resignation, surveillance
• Work type: Master's thesis/paper
• Typology: 2.09 - Master's Thesis
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Place of publishing: Ljubljana
• Publisher: M. Soldat
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: 1 spletni vir (1 datoteka PDF (99 str.))
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-185754
• UDC: 077.5:81'42(043.2)
• COBISS.SI-ID: 290048003
• Publication date in RUL: 20.08.2026

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: »Zasebnost je mrtva«: tematska analiza diskurza o utrujenosti od zasebnosti v skupnosti r/privacy na Redditu : magistrsko delo
• Keywords: utrujenost od zasebnosti, paradoks zasebnosti, analiza diskurza, digitalna resignacija, nadzor