Nowadays, it’s so normalized for people, especially teenagers, to post anything and everything and not even notice they’re oversharing. This could mean people accidentally sharing where they live, what school they go to, and other private info they don’t want others to know. When the wrong people find information about someone, they have the power to use it against them by bullying them, impersonating them, hacking them, and other things.
Even though oversharing has such negative effects, people do it to maintain a positive online persona. Changing who you are online could be the only way some people can maintain this.
“I mess around more online than I do in person. I act more appropriately in person.” “I try to seem more likable online,” 11th grader Roland Marton said.
Online personas get positively maintained, but oversharing can also keep someone from getting a job. Sharing too much has long lasting effects.
“I didn’t post a certain dance because, I don’t know, it was a little weird? I care a lot about my digital footprint, so I’m glad I never posted that dance.” 10th grader Jitya Bhaskaruni said.
While oversharing personal information online can keep you from getting a job, there are more consequences. If someone shares too much, oftentimes people will use that to their advantage. This can lead to bullying of many types, such as cyberbullying.
“Oversharing is a behavior that often has a heavy correlation with cyberbullying. These behaviors also cause the individual to become more likely to be targeted by a cyberbully and suggest the possibility of cyclical processes,” JMIR Publications Inc said.
On the contrary to cyberbullying, some people online get so infatuated with a person to the point where they want to become them, so they try to impersonate them.
“When you share personal information on social media, you expose yourself to the risk of identity theft and fraud. Cybercriminals can use the information you share, such as your full name, date of birth, and location, to impersonate you or launch targeted attacks,” The New York Institute of Technology said.
In the process of cybercriminals finding information about someone, they can easily come across a person’s location. A way they could do this is if they’re on Snapchat, and the person they’re looking at has their Snap Maps on. Snap Maps is a feature where the user can share their location with anyone they have added, even if the user doesn’t know them. There are ways to limit who sees your Snap Maps, but a lot of people don’t do that.
“It’s okay if you trust the person you share your location with and it’s not some random people, because people you don’t trust, like creeps and stuff, can see your location and possibly find you. If you overshare too much about your personal life, and they see where you’re at at all times, and you always post where you’re at, they can find you and do bad things.” Marton said.
