The popularization of social networks and smartphones has allowed us to be increasingly connected, but it has also led us to publish what we do in our lives – such as where and who we are with – sometimes excessively.
The problem comes when some people share too many things about their private lives on their social profiles and have a very large overexposure on the Internet on a continuous basis. This situation, which can lead to an addiction to social networks, is called oversharing. In this article we tell you what it consists of and the risks that this maximum exposure can entail.
What is ‘oversharing’
He oversharing could be defined as the overexposure of personal information on the Internet, especially on social networks. That is, it occurs when a person constantly shares moments of their personal life and, therefore, exposes their life too much on the Internet.
In some cases, people who share their daily lives at these levels may not be aware of it and do not know the risks that doing so may entail.
While there is no single reason why some people tend to do this, there are some reasons that could be related. For example, a person may have few friends and feel the need to create that community with other people online by sharing their everyday and also most intimate moments.
Another reason for oversharing could be to vent or seek attention from other users. Even social networks themselves can be encouraging in this situation since these platforms are designed – and in fact encourage – so that users share as many moments about their lives on them.
What risks does oversharing entail?
Having an overexposure of our lives on the Internet can have some consequences if you do not know how to control the information that is shared on the network. These are some of the most common risks:
– Robbery and burglary. One of the great dangers of sharing images on the Internet is that criminals who specialize in this can be attentive to your every move. If you go on vacation and share it, they can know when you leave the house alone. But not only when you travel, also when you share that you always go to the gym at the same time and on the same day of the week, or when you are having dinner at a restaurant and you publish the exact location of where you are at that moment.
– Vulnerability to strangers. You may go out into the street in the city where you live and meet strangers. Maybe you know practically nothing about them, but they know more about you than you think: they know what your house is like, what you usually eat, the places you frequent or the music you listen to, among many other things.
– Problems changing jobs. Nowadays it is not unusual for those in charge of recruiting new employees to check the candidates’ social networks. If your networks are public, you should know that they can also use that information to know if your profile fits the position or not. Even if you don’t like it, your online reputation says a lot about you too.
– Identity fraud. Although this risk is especially faced by people with a larger number of followers on social networks, anyone can be a victim of it. If you share a lot of personal information and images, criminals can create accounts impersonating you to discredit you or even scam other people using your image.
