Social Media

Are You Oversharing on Social Media?

Priyanka Tomar | Updated On September 12, 2023

Social media dominates modern life and business. Yes, it is fun and okay to keep tabs with friends or share the ups and downs of life with your loved ones. Nevertheless, if you aren’t cautious, you may end up disclosing more information than is necessary to total strangers.

Our social media feeds overflow with too much intimate and detailed private information being published publicly. Some people reveal even the smallest details of their lives.

Also, Read: 6 Reasons to Outsource Social Media Management in 2022

Why is It Dangerous to Overshare?

First, you make it effortless for cybercriminals to get to you by oversharing information online.

For instance:

• Inadvertently disclosing your valuables such as electronics, jewels, fine art, and other collectibles in your house or antiques increases the risk of theft.
• Malicious followers know when you’re out of town when you post pictures from your vacation.
• Sharing personal images of your family members exposes them to potential harm and threats.

What Kind of Information May Be Spread Excessively?

Interacting on social media is not wrong; neither is telling your followers what you’re up to next. However, while you’re at it, be careful with sharing some of the information below.

Consider your present location and your companions. Most social networking sites let users share their current location with others. On other websites, individuals must execute the location-sharing procedure manually. If you add a location tag to your Instagram photos, anyone in your circle can see it. On the other side, this exposes your whereabouts to anyone who needs it.

Giving out family-related information is also a good sign you’re oversharing. The birthday of a family member, the names of their siblings, and the dates of any important family events are confidential. As a method of maintaining contact with old friends and creating new ones, social media comes in handy. Nevertheless, revealing personal details about your family or relationship with your parents is an excessive disclosure of personal information.

The third kind of oversharing is exposing your ideas and sentiments to your followers. This is known as self-disclosure since you are voluntarily sharing your thoughts and emotions with others. In some instances, doing this through social media (SM) can be a sign of mental illness. Typically, this happens without notice or preparation. For example, if you’re posting derogatory comments about known persons, such as co-workers, or expressing controversial political ideas, this is not healthy.

How Individuals Overshare

It’s typical for individuals to make the mistake of posting photos of themselves in the vicinity of their home to show their followers where they live. This puts you, your loved ones, and your neighbors in danger.

You probably use social media as a way to express your emotions in the hopes of meeting new people and exchanging ideas. However, whatever you upload on the Internet is irretrievably lost. A large number of individuals can access this information. They see your private sentiments and even personal information, which can then be exploited for blackmail.

Often, we publish so much online that we lose track of what we’ve put out there and what we’ve said. As we get older (and, in most instances, wiser), our views, habits, and ideals tend to shift.

It’s easier to forget embarrassing or regrettable things you’ve done or said in real life than in the digital one (or at least you can try to avoid it!). Digitally, this isn’t the case. Regardless of how long it’s been since you hit the “delete” button, the data will still exist in some form or another.

Employers often check the social media pages of prospective employees to get a sense of the kind of person they are recruiting. If you were to lose your dream job because your friend uploaded a humiliating video of you on YouTube, wouldn’t this be a shame? What if a potential employer finds a tweet you sent out sharing embarrassing sentiments?

How to Avoid Oversharing Online

We are in the digital age, and no one can ask you to quit sharing memes or anything online. However, before you hit that ‘send’ button, here’s what you need to know.

It’s advisable to keep your remarks to yourself if you feel emotional. If you don’t, you might regret it later. You risk suffering severe repercussions if you vent all your frustrations on social media. You might even lose real pals if they can’t trust you to keep things out of Twitter every time you fight.

By default, the public sees your profile and contributions. So, consider changing your account to private if you post too much. If you set your account to private, followers will need your permission to see your posts, your followers, and the people you follow.

However, there are certain limits. While your Instagram posts are private, they can be accessible to the public if you share them on other social networks, depending on the privacy settings on those platforms.

Networking is a valuable resource. However, avoid letting it dominate your life. There is no need to “prove” yourself on FB or TikTok. In reality, most individuals are not as intrigued by your private life as most influencers suggest.

Social sites do not accurately portray the lives of those using them. Instead of living vicariously on these websites, spend more time with your friends and family. If you must share sensitive information with a third party, use Nuwber to authenticate their identity. People online have different goals, so you need to be sure it’s someone you can trust.

Lastly, if this has a bad influence on your mental health, it’s better to unplug for a while and participate in offline activities.

Conclusion

Social platforms are a fantastic way to express ideologies but they can also be toxic. Therefore, it is essential to recognize your limits and know when to quit. You must maintain a balance between what you share with others and what you keep private. After this read, you should have sufficient knowledge to understand the risk of oversharing and how to protect your most sensitive data.