More adults — especially young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 — are actively monitoring what is being said and posted about themselves online and taking steps to protect their privacy, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project.

"Contrary to common assumptions, young adults are, in many ways, the most active managers of their online reputations," said Mary Madden, Pew senior research specialist and lead author of the report, "Reputation Management and Social Media."

Younger adults are also "more likely than older adults to limit the information they share online, especially on social networking sites," such as Facebook. "Those who know more, worry more," she said.

[...]

Many social networking site users "want to have a sense of control over their information, but they sometimes take the path of least resistance when making choices about how they manage their profiles and other content connected to their name online," whether that means "accepting the default privacy settings of an application or skipping over the fine print in a 'terms of service' agreement."

The survey results "do not indicate that Internet users care any less about retaining control over their personal information online," Pew said.

"Many people simply are not aware of what is actually available about them."

Read More