Christofides says that the nature of the social networking website is a contributing factor as Facebook includes a template where users fill in information - from their name to relationship status to even their religion.

'This creates 'norms' regarding what specific information to disclose based on what others have disclosed,'' she says.

As a result, people may choose to leave out revealing information., she adds.

'The need for popularity was (also) found to be a significant predictor of information disclosure,' adds lead author Amy Muise. Thus information disclosure becomes the key factor in assessing one's popularity on Facebook.

'What others share and say about you is also a part of Facebook. The people who are the most popular are those whose online identity is actively participated in by others. So the more you share, the more others respond,''says the study.

Thus, popularity and disclosure become inextricably linked, the researchers say.

'People with a high need for popularity may indeed care about their privacy, but they may not be willing to sacrifice their popularity by implementing privacy controls,'' according to Christofides.

As part of their study, the two researchers surveyed 343 Facebook users, all university students between the ages of 17 and 24.

Facebook, which has over 200 million users worldwide, is also the most popular networking website in Canada. The study has been published in the journal CyberPsychology and Behaviour