THE END OF PRIVACY

With 2.34 billion people using social media worldwide, it is fair to say most of us are frequent social media users, no matter what the platform. Whether it be pictures or text posts, Facebook statuses or Tumblr posts… people use social media in different ways. This topic is something that has been mentioned in a few of my previous blog posts; how easy is it to overshare on social media?

Okay, so what is oversharing? Well,

Overshare
reveal an inappropriate amount of detail about one’s personal life.

Whether that be personal information like your school or your date of birth, or if it’s what you’re having for dinner, we don’t seem to know what is too much information anymore.

Let’s look at what these social media sites say to us.
Facebook: What’s on your mind?
Twitter: What’s happening?
The sites are basically inviting us to share information that people don’t want to know! But what’s wrong with posting all this stuff on social media? Well, this is the issue…

1) You’re that ‘annoying friend’ who people unfollow

This is a harsh place to start, but we all know that friend who has a 120 second Snapchat story or feels as though they need to share the fact their dog just lied down on their feet with their Twitter followers. I mean technically there is nothing wrong with being that annoying friend, it’s just people don’t really want to know this stuff. But then again, you could say that about anything people post on social media. If you feel like this is you, do what makes you happy! I mean I post about 20 tweets a day and I’m not stopping for anyone anytime soon…

2) You don’t realise how personal you’re getting

Have you ever found yourself complaining about how much your sister has got on your nerves? Or perhaps images that aren’t necessarily NSFW? It’s information like this that is maybe getting a little too personal. When you are bringing things like other people (eg your family) who are unable to stand up for themselves, or things that other people don’t necessarily need to know. Bare in mind what is too personal when it comes to social media, as the next few points will help you realise.

3) You are unaware of how many people can access your posts

A few years ago, I had a real eye opener- I wrote a post about how much my family had upset me on my Tumblr account, without realising someone my sister knows followed me on the site. She informed my sister, who informed my mum, and let’s just say, it wasn’t pretty… It’s not always just family friends or people you know who can follow you and cause an issue. What about employers or colleagues who can access your posts? Is what you’re placing really suitable for these people to see? You might only have 300 followers on Instagram, but if your image comes up on someone else’s Discover page, then a lot more will be seeing your profile.

4) You forget that when it’s posted online, it’s there forever

This is the most important thing to remember. That NSFW image you posted when you were 17? It doesn’t matter if you deleted it, once it’s online, it’s always online, and it can affect your future. Whether it be a controversial post, a nude, pictures of you with drugs it will always remain on the data base. People are able to save the images and repost them- an issue I encountered a few years ago when I uploaded an image of me with a YouTuber on a Tumblr with less than 100 followers and found a man stealing my image and reposting it on his blog. Regretting posting things on social media is not uncommon, so make sure you don’t post things that could come back to haunt you in the future.

I was ‘lucky’ enough to have learnt from my own mistakes at a young age. However, this is what my blog is about- hopefully opening your eyes to something you might not have thought about before, and stopping you making the same mistakes I once did.

If you ever have any questions or comments about anything you have read on my blog posts, you can contact me through my Twitter or Facebook, or leave comments down below!