The epidemic of oversharing online can have significant impacts on the mental health of individuals. While oversharing does not necessarily possess the ability to create narcissists, it can enable narcissistic traits in normal people which can lead to an increased likelihood to use social media to broadcast every aspect of their lives (Twenge, 2017). The need for temporary validation is enough for narcissists to portray an unrealistic image to their followers to deem themselves desirable. Rutledge (2014) theorises that seeking social validation is a natural response to social interaction but the line is crossed when the need transforms into a toxic desire for external approval to boost intrinsic value. As most narcissists suffer from low self- esteem, this can create more dissatisfaction when they realise that 100 likes on a post do not boost their self-value.
Since narcissists are always looking to be the centre of attention, oversharing can serve as a catalyst to always keep the focus on them. This can lead to presenting controversial opinions or acting irrationally just to garner any type of response. Most researchers have classified Donald Trump as a full-blown narcissist which can be confirmed by his apparent penchant for proclaiming outlandish statements just to provoke the crowd and keep the attention on him (Fredrickson, 2018). On the subject of public figures, internet influencers who constantly put out content and encourage the negative idea of oversharing in order to gain followers can mislead individuals into being peer pressured into jumping on the bandwagon and feeding into a lifestyle that they may not even want to be a part of.
This can lead to an unwanted and perhaps an unconscious exposure of their personal lives and private information. The most susceptible to this phenomenon are teenagers who in an attempt to be accessible, continuously tag their locations including, in some cases, their home address. This compromises their cybersecurity and makes them prone to threats against their privacy. This is demonstrated in a 2018 TV show called ‘You’ where the protagonist is able to gain access to all the private information about a girl he likes due to her tendency to overshare and hence, is able to locate her home address and successfully stalk her.
To most people, digital oversharing is a way to fuel the need to be liked and appreciated. A lot of people overshare not to be individualistic or self-promote like most people think, but to be accepted and find their sense of belonging. By revealing their deepest secrets, over-sharers hope to find people that relate to them and in turn can give them the intrinsic connection and support that they desire (MacDonald, 2014). Yet, this can lead to embellishing and retelling stories in order to gain sympathy and attention from their followers which can manifest into an addiction to compulsive lying.
In conclusion, digital oversharing is morphing into an increasingly prevalent problem present in today’s world. By promoting and encouraging the constant need to form connections and be in touch with the digital cyberspace, we are really only contributing to the problem. Proper precautions must be taken to facilitate safe and controlled digital media consumption and usage.
References
Frederickson, J. (2018). The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President. Psychiatry, 81(4), 408–414. doi: 10.1080/00332747.2018.1529989
MacDonald, P. (2014). Narcissism in the modern world. Psychodynamic Practice, 20(2), 144–153. doi: 10.1080/14753634.2014.894225
Rutledge, P. (2014). Digital Narcissism. Media Psychology Research Center.
Twenge, J. (2017). Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? The Atlantic.
