Why do People Share About Themselves Online? How Self-presentation, Work-home Conflict, and the Work Environment Impact Online Self-disclosure Dimensions
Stephanie Totty, Prajakta Kolte, Stoney Brooks
This study investigates why people share information about themselves online by examining how factors like self-presentation, work-home conflict, and the work environment influence different aspects of online self-disclosure. The research utilized a survey of 309 active social media users, and the data was analyzed to understand these complex relationships.
Problem
With the rise of remote work, online interactions have become crucial for maintaining personal and professional relationships. However, prior research often treated online self-disclosure as a single concept, failing to distinguish between its various dimensions such as amount, depth, and honesty, thus leaving a gap in understanding what drives specific sharing behaviors.
Outcome
- How people want to be seen by others (self-presentation) positively influences all aspects of their online sharing, including the amount, depth, honesty, intention, and positivity of the content. - Experiencing work-home conflict leads people to share more frequently online, but it does not affect the depth, honesty, or other qualitative dimensions of their sharing. - Workplace culture plays a significant role; environments that encourage a separation between work and personal life (segmentation culture) and offer location flexibility strengthen the tendency for people to share more online as part of their self-presentation efforts. - The findings demonstrate that different factors impact the various dimensions of online sharing differently, highlighting the need to analyze them separately rather than as a single behavior.
Host: Welcome to A.I.S. Insights, powered by Living Knowledge. I’m your host, Anna Ivy Summers. In today’s increasingly digital workplace, what we share online can define our personal and professional lives. But why do we share what we do?
Host: Today, we’re diving into a fascinating new study titled, "Why do People Share About Themselves Online? How Self-presentation, Work-home Conflict, and the Work Environment Impact Online Self-disclosure Dimensions". To help us unpack this, we have our expert analyst, Alex Ian Sutherland. Alex, welcome to the show.
Expert: Thanks for having me, Anna. This study is really timely. It investigates why people share information about themselves on social media by looking at factors like how we want others to see us, the stress of balancing work and home life, and even our company's culture.
Host: Let's start with the big problem. With remote and hybrid work becoming the norm, we're all interacting online more than ever. But you're saying we don't fully understand the 'why' behind our online sharing?
Expert: Exactly. For a long time, research treated online sharing, or "online self-disclosure" as it's called, as a single action. You either share, or you don't. But this study argues that's too simplistic.
Host: How so? What are we missing?
Expert: We’re missing the different dimensions of sharing. Think about it: you can share a lot of superficial updates—that's the 'amount'. Or you can share something deeply personal—that's 'depth'. You can be completely truthful—that's 'honesty'. You can also consider how intentional or positive your posts are. The problem was that nobody had really examined what drives each of these specific behaviors.
Host: So, how did the researchers get at these different dimensions? What was their approach?
Expert: They took a direct approach. They conducted a detailed online survey with over 300 active social media users who were also employed full-time. Then, they used a powerful statistical method to analyze the connections between the employees' feelings about their work, their personal life, and the specific ways they shared information online.
Host: It sounds comprehensive. Let's get to the results. What was the first key finding?
Expert: The biggest driver, by far, is what the study calls 'self-presentation'—basically, our desire to manage the image we project to others. The more someone is focused on self-presentation, the more it positively influences *every* aspect of their online sharing.
Host: Every aspect? So that means the amount, the depth, the honesty... all of it?
Expert: Yes, all five dimensions. People trying to build a certain image online tend to share more frequently, share deeper and more personal content, and are more honest, intentional, and positive in their posts. The strongest effects were on the amount and depth of sharing. It seems building an image requires both quantity and quality.
Host: That makes sense. What about the work-home conflict piece? We hear a lot about burnout and the blurring of boundaries. How does that affect our sharing habits?
Expert: This is one of the most interesting findings. When people experience high levels of conflict between their work and home lives, they share *more frequently* online. The 'amount' goes up. However, that conflict had no significant effect on the depth, honesty, or positivity of what they shared.
Host: So, they're posting more, but not necessarily sharing anything deeper or more meaningful? Why do you think that is?
Expert: The researchers suggest that people might be using social media as an outlet or a coping mechanism. Just the act of posting more often might provide the social support they need, without having to get into the messy, personal details. They might also fear repercussions at work or home if they share too honestly about their conflict.
Host: That's a crucial distinction. The study also looked at the work environment itself. What did it find there?
Expert: It found that company culture plays a huge role, specifically in amplifying our efforts at self-presentation. Two factors stood out: a culture that encourages a clear separation between work and personal life, and having the flexibility to work from different locations.
Host: Wait, that sounds counterintuitive. A culture that separates work and personal life makes people share *more* online for professional reasons?
Expert: Precisely. If your company culture respects boundaries and you have location flexibility, you have fewer informal, in-person interactions to build your professional image. As a result, you rely more heavily on social media to present yourself, leading you to share a greater amount of content to manage that image.
Host: That brings us to the most important question for our listeners: why does this matter for business? What are the practical takeaways?
Expert: There are takeaways for everyone. For managers, this is a clear signal that employee well-being and company culture have a direct impact on online behavior. If you see an employee suddenly posting much more frequently, it might be a flag for high work-home conflict. This suggests that fostering a supportive culture with clear boundaries isn't just good for morale; it shapes the digital footprint of your workforce.
Host: So managers should be paying attention to these signals. What about for the companies that run these social media platforms?
Expert: For social media companies, this is gold. Understanding that self-presentation is a primary driver for sharing means they can build better tools to help users create and manage their personal or professional brand. For example, platforms could offer features that help users tailor their content for different audiences, which directly supports these self-presentation goals.
Host: It really connects workplace policy directly to platform design and user behavior. A powerful insight. Alex, thank you for breaking this down for us.
Expert: My pleasure, Anna.
Host: To summarize for our listeners: why we share online is complex. Our desire to shape how others see us is the biggest driver of all types of sharing. But when work-life stress kicks in, we tend to post more often, not more deeply. And importantly, a company’s culture around flexibility and work-life separation can actually increase how much employees share online to build their professional identity.
Host: A big thank you to our expert, Alex Ian Sutherland, and to all of you for tuning in to A.I.S. Insights, powered by Living Knowledge. Join us next time as we decode another key piece of research for your business.
