Are YOU Sharing Too Much?

Written by/ Anoud Sohail

What a beautiful view? Let's put it on insta!

photo by Getty Images/ Tim Robberts

The internet is a global phenomenon, changing the world in every way. The older generation often complain about our dependency on the internet, specifically, social media. They complain about the information being shared freely, blurring the lines between public and private life. But when exactly does a little harmless sharing become an overload of personal information that is likely to turn around and cause problems in the life of the social media user?

There are several reasons for broadcasting our private life for other people to see. The most important one, according to the researchers, is to fulfill the inherent need of being liked and socially approved by our peers. There are several articles that state that we like each other the more we share. On the other hand, we also tend to like each other less if what we share is deemed as socially inappropriate.

In a study conducted by Psychology Today, reasons as to why people overshare on social media have been revealed. a) Anonymity - There is a factor of not sharing your real name and identity with others and hiding behind hoax usernames. b) Invisibility - It is easier to say things while being hidden in a safe bubble behind our computer screens without the knowledge of others. c) Delayed Communication- The probability of not having to deal with instant reactions. d) It's not real- It is much easier to portray ourselves in a way that may be drastically different from our real personalities.

We conducted a survey in an effort to understand the phenomenon present behind social media sharing. The first question in the survey was: Which social media do you have an active account with and use? The reason behind this was to find out which app, among instagram, facebook, snapchat and twitter, people used frequently. The results showed that 87.50% of the people primarily use instagram more frequently than any other app with snapchat coming in second. It’s easy to see why. Instagram is primarily an image-sharing app, with people sharing images of their experiences. These experiences can take the form of joyous occasions such as parties and vacations. But they can also showcase the negative aspects transpiring in an individual's life.

The second question in the survey was about whether they share their private life with strangers on the internet. A surprising reveal showed that only 15.63% of them answered affirmatively. But as with all self-reports, there is often the factor of miscalculation when people underestimate/overestimate how much or how little they do of what's asked in the survey.

The third step of the survey looked at the question of frequency of social media sharing. The results showed that 62.50% of the users post at least once during the week while 21.88% of them post more than two times a week.

The next step was to find out whether people shared their joy or sorrow more often. The result was 59.38% of the people admitting that they shared their joyous occasions more. This coincides with the fact that people often want to portray a perfect picture of their lives

on social media by only broadcasting the positive aspects of it. It was also seen that 37.50% of the people feel the need to share about the places that they have been to, for example, a party that they have enjoyed or a new restaurant that they have eaten at, etc.

The next question of the survey asked people if they find it easier to talk to their friends in real life or with strangers on the internet. This question aimed to see whether or not people find communication on social media easier than real life, hence sharing more updates of their life with strangers on these platforms.The results showed that 75% of them find it easier to talk to friends in real life with only 15.63% of them finding it easy to talk to both.

The last question of the survey inquired if the users ever faced difficulties from others by oversharing. While 59.38% of the people answered in the negative, an overwhelming 40.63% of them answered that they did face hardships as a result of their tendency to share.

These hardships are seen in both work places and educational institutions. Nowadays, employers/recruiters do a thorough background check of the applicants' social media history before accepting them. It is important that we pay attention to the process by which we interact with others online, what we share and what aspects of our life we include as it may have an everlasting impact on both our mental health and social wellbeing. Since our online relationships do not have the personal interaction that our offline ones have, it becomes exceedingly necessary to handle our online relationships with more care and maturity. In the end, we have to make sure that our online relationships, just like our offline ones, cultivate our mind and make us feel good.