In the November issue of Psychology Today, the cover story, The Power of Boundaries, by Sara Eckel examines how to set sharing boundaries in an age of unparalleled personal expression and self-disclosure.
She explains that each of us tries to erect a boundary around the parts of ourselves that we want to keep private, but that it can be a challenge when sharing personal information brings people closer together, helps people to like each other more, and is a natural inclination when someone shares with you.
This applies to personal life, the workplace, and even online.
On social media, “we’re lulled into thinking we have a friendly audience when we don’t necessarily,” says Dr. Jen Golbeck, professor at the University of Maryland College of Information Studies and social media expert. She goes on that oversharing on social media is not just a problem for today’s youth – in fact, studies show that young people are better at using privacy controls than their elders. Golbeck also explains that oversharing isn’t just about the updates and photos that you post, it’s also about what you “like” on the sites. “As data analytics become more sophisticated,” Golbeck says, “all those thumbs-up icons have the potential to greatly affect our futures should the information land in the hands of insurance companies, banks, university admissions officers, and prospective employers.” Golbeck suggests that users research and use plug-ins to cleanse accounts every few weeks.
Click here to read the full story.