Self-disclosure

According to our text self-disclosure is the process of making intentional relationships about yourself that other people may not know and that is including private, sensitive, or even confidential information. (pg 42.) Now that there is a background to what that means, why do we share this information online, to others we do not know. When we share this information online we are sharing information about our personal lives to people we call our friends on the internet. When we do this, it could be used against us like the story of Megan Meier who took her own life because a social media “friend” stated she was not good enough for anybody and used her life and updates against her to make her feel like she was not good enough. They used the personal information, or private information and made her feel like she was not enough. This is a bad side to sharing too much information on the internet.

There are also self-discloser information that some may feel like it is okay to post online, for instance in the story Are We Sharing too Much Online? There is a person that posted his cancer diagnosis on Facebook. The comments that he received about his treatments were uplifting and helped him and others. It even helped him fight cancer harder. Posting about deaths in the family can also make you feel comforted because you get the responses like Oh I am so sorry, or we are praying for you. For instance, I recently lost my grandfather on Easter, I posted it on my Facebook, not because I wanted comments or posts it was to share with far away family members. But by doing this I did get a lot more comments stating they are sorry and they were here for me if needed. It was nice to hear, even when that was not the purpose of the post.

There are two sides to everything the good and the bad, the dark and the light. It is more about moderation, know how to safely put information on social media sites that do not put you or your family at risk for scams or bullying. In our text book it states that you can “Improve your interpersonal Communication Behaviors” (pg. 49). “By being aware of the role perception plays in relationships…. provide clear verbal and non-verbal cues”. By using these two steps online it will help you in a big way.  

When we are online we tend to feel more comfortable talking to others because we are behind a computer, that is when we share too much information. Be discrete in the information you are offering online. So be clear and make sure you think about what the internet will know about you after you press post. When I post online, I try to keep information about where I am at to myself. I do not post about my health usually, no financial problems.