Photo courtesy of Whatknot.
From what I can tell, the level of caution about how much personal information we share online seems to be roughly correlated with the number of candles on our cakes. Forgive the generalizations, but most Millennials are largely unconcerned with censoring the personal information they put online - often to the point of oversharing - because they assume most of it will be forgotten, and who really cares anyway? Most Gen Xers and Boomers, on the other hand, are wringing their hands and shaking their heads over the school admissions decisions and employment opportunities that are being lost every day as Millennials seem to post every controversial opinion, irresponsible photo and awkward relationship drama they can come up with. And don’t even get my mom started on identity theft.
While many in this latter group thought (or hoped) this social network sharing was just a phase, technology experts now predict that getting older will not discourage Millennials from continuing to share information online. The experts once thought our nearly constant use of Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms was a passing fad, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that 895 technology experts surveyed by Pew Research Center and Elon University say it’s here to stay.
It seems likely that instead of abandoning our online tools, Millennials’ use of social media will continue to mature with us. We’ll increasingly use our presence on blogs, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to build (rather than undermine) our careers and social circles. As for that the fear that an employer or colleague might see an embarrassing twitpic, an incriminating wall post or something else overly personal - it will likely fade as everyone gradually (probably some generations more gradually than others) realizes no one is immune to embarrassing moments online, and it’s not the type of thing that will make and break careers.
But what would a debate be without a dissenting opinion? While a smaller contingent than a few years ago, still nearly 30 percent of Pew’s experts warn that the consequences of our online oversharing (which one called an upcoming “social media hangover”), along with other interests and demands on our time, will lead Millennials to pull back much of our online personalities. At the same time, Mitch Joel suggests on his blog that people are already gravitating in significant numbers toward tools that allow them to keep their anonymity, like Chatroulette, Formspring and Second Life. These tools still provide connection and person-to-person interaction, but give users the added comfort of being anonymous, if they want it, and that, Joel says, encourages content you won’t find on less anonymous platforms.
This potential trend toward sharing less about who we really are online is in many ways reminiscent of how many first started interacting online, in AOL chat rooms. We talked to strangers online about sports, relationships, politics and other shared interests, but the cardinal rule was to keep your real name, where you live and other personal information private. Newer waves of online interaction pushed us to trade in screen names like luvsdogs21 for our real identities, and now we may have reached a point of peak transparency and authenticity. If the dissenting experts are right and people continue to revert back to more anonymous social sites in greater numbers, will we see an emerging cycle of anonymity and oversharing online?
The opinion is still split over what the consequences of putting our identities online will be, but I have to agree with the majority on this one. I respect people’s need for anonymity and I’ll admit I’ve learned some things about a few of my Facebook and Twitter friends that I wish I hadn’t, but generally I’m still resistant to the call for anonymity and limited sharing online. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If we’re not willing to connect with people we don’t already know in real life and we’re not willing to express our opinion (and claim it) and we’re not willing to share some of the little bits and quirks that make us human, then we’re missing a lot of what social networking has to offer. Building the connections and trust that leads to collaboration, partnership, favors, employment, and other opportunities requires us to give up anonymity and own who we are online and offline.
Where do you think we're headed with anonymity and oversharing online?
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