Advice from Jen Golbeck on How to Avoid Oversharing Online
Writer Sarah Bregel, in an article entitled, Oversharing online: The power and danger of saying too much, shares that with over a decade of writing about motherhood and more, she’s revealed some of the most intimate details of her life online. With a daughter now nearly old enough to have her own online presence, Bregel questions if she has over-shared and may regret some of the things her children will now be able to read.
She advises that “stepping back and examining what we share online is likely a good practice for anyone — whether you’re in the spotlight or not. Most of us want to connect and relate in a way that is healthy and authentic, but not harmful.”
Bregal also shares some wisdom from Dr. Jen Golbeck, a professor at the& University of Maryland College of Information Studies:
Questions like,“Does the share seem attention-seeking versus support-seeking?” and “Does it imply that anyone reading should understand the person posting really well?” are worth our consideration, says Dr. Golbeck.
In terms of what to reveal and what not to, Dr. Golbeck says there isn’t one concrete answer. We all have our own boundaries. “If you’re happy for that info to be out there, and you’re not violating anyone else’s right to consent about their lives being shared, then I think you’re in an okay space,” she says. Essentially, it’s not really up to anyone else to decide what’s right for us or what should be deemed “appropriate.”
Read the full article by Sarah Bregel, published in MIC on August 13, 2019.