Week 2: Are We Sharing Too Much Online?

In this week lectures, we learned about the effects of self-disclosure online. Alex Lambert noted in Discovering Intimacy on Facebook, that in face-to-face communication the disclosure of intimate details about ourselves is disclosure when we have an intimate and meaningful relationship with somebody, but not in online communication. Alex and his team observed that members of social media shared intimate details about themselves to fulfill a narcissist need and their social media friends were just a mean to fulfill that narcissist need. (Communicating Online. Page 156-159) So the question arises: “Are We Sharing Too Much Online?” And if so, what are the outcomes?

Kayla Perrin, noted in Our Sex Lives & Social Media: Are We Sharing too Much Online? (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., that around 2015 there was a hashtag that went viral named #OrgasmQuest (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. People shared their sex life details on social media using this hashtag. I thought the hashtag was only a lie because sharing details about your sex life seems like sharing too much information online. I googled the hashtag and it brought me to several social media websites where people disclosure very intimate details about their sex life in public social media with their real names. After reading several social media posts I have to agree that some people share too much information online, but I believe social media is merely a tool and everybody have the right to choose how to use it. If these people chosen to share their sex life intimate details is their right but also their responsibility. They have the right to share their personal information because they own their information but they need to understand that once this information is shared online it will not be only theirs anymore and therefore is their responsibility to deal with any outcomes.

Aspiring Docs noted in How Social Media Can Affect Your Application (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., that medical schools search for applicants online before accepting their applications for medical school. Many people believe that their online presence cannot affect their lives, but it does. If an applicant for medical school is found to have a negative online presence such as racist social media posts or behaviors that seem dangerous for their future patients, these applicants will be denied their entrance in medical school. In my personal experience, I have seen this system work. I was at first skeptical about online presence till a classmate's application was denied. The classmate asked the medical school the reason why he was denied, and apparently, by law, the school have to give a reason. One day in class, he read the explanation from the medical school. The medical school found that he was a drug user through his social media posts, which I assume they backed up with the usual background check of criminal records. I had conflicted feelings. For one side I was glad that medical schools do not accept everybody, because that will endanger the life of patients, like myself, but for the other part I got really scared to see how much power social media have.

Abd Allah Foteih noted in Do We Reveal More in Person or on Our Electronic Devices (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.?, that in face-to-face interactions people tend to disclose intimate details about themselves just to close friends, while the same people tend to share more details to people they barely know in online communication. After seeing how many people shared their intimate sex life details in the #OrgasmQuest (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., I have to agree that people seem to have a tendency to share more intimate details online than in face-to-face interactions. I personally do not feel comfortable sharing my personal information in face-to-face interactions if it is not with close friends.

In conclusion, I believe that social media and any other way to share information online is a tool and everybody decides how to use it. It is our right and responsibility to decide what information we share online, and therefore we should inform ourselves about the outcomes of sharing personal information online. Our presence online can affect our job opportunities and it will be beneficial to keep a positive online presence, but that is a choice everybody has to make for themselves. 

Sources:

Communicating Online (p.156-159). Edited by Julia Green. 

Do We Reveal More in Person or on Our Electronic Devices? 5 Sept. 2014, www.psychologytoday.com/us/
blog/close-encounters/201409/do-we-reveal-more-in-person-or-our-electronic-devices. Accessed 14 
Apr. 2018.

How Social Media Can Affect Your Application. 2018, students-residents.aamc.org/
applying-medical-school/article/how-social-media-can-affect-your-application/. Accessed 14 Apr. 
2018.

Our Sex Lives & Social Media: Are We Sharing too Much Online? 15 May 2015, illuminessencemag.com/ 
our-sex-lives-social-media-are-we-sharing-too-much-online/. Accessed 14 Apr. 2018.