How to Avoid Oversharing on Social Media

• When you're posting on social media, it's a good idea to avoid discussing anything controversial, like politics or religion, as well as anything that's incriminating or very personal.
• Before you hit post, ask yourself, "Would I share this with someone sitting next to me?"
• To protect your sensitive information, limit who can see what you post, and turn off any features that automatically share your location.
• Be careful what you share about other people or your workplace, as well!

Choosing Your Content Wisely

Avoid sharing about controversial topics. Certain topics like politics, religion, and polarizing issues can cause heated arguments and may alienate some of your followers. If you don't want to engage in arguments or lose followers, avoid posting about these topics or post neutral comments.

Act like you're sharing with someone who is right beside you. It's easy to post or reblog something instantaneously, without giving it much thought. But is the story, image, or other content you're posting really necessary? Does it contain content you'd feel was appropriate to communicate to someone in person? If not, reconsider sharing it at all. Imagine your mom, brother, or best friend is sitting beside you while you share something online. Would they be upset by what you're posting? Offended? Grossed out? If so, don't post it. Use your judgement and try to imagine how you would feel if you randomly stumbled across the content you intend to post.

Keep your sharing positive and polite. Instead of posting about negative interactions with others, post only information about your positive interactions. For instance, don't post content related to your child's misbehavior or a conflict you got into with your spouse. Instead, post content related to your child's good grades, or a pleasant date you went on with your spouse. Posting negative content is quite personal and could make others uncomfortable – even if they are not referenced directly in your post.

Consider who is going to see your posts. If you're using strong language in a post, you might want to limit it to only certain people, or adjust the settings on the post so that certain individuals cannot see your post. Or out of respect for your parents, for instance, you might choose to prohibit them from seeing your posts regarding a certain sensitive topic. In other cases, you might want to share an inside joke with friends. Instead of opening the post up to all your social media followers, you might instead just send the joke as a group message directly to your friends.

Avoid sharing information about bodily functions and changes. Nobody wants to know about your most recent bowel movement. Likewise, avoid sharing information (including imagery) about menstruation, colonoscopies, and urination. Unless you're pregnant, losing weight, or have a cold, avoid sharing details about your physical condition and bodily habits. You can tastefully share some physical states or events. For instance, you might post that you gave birth to a child on social media. You could even post an image of the newborn wrapped snugly in a blanket. But it would be inappropriate to post an image of your child being born.

Staying Safe On Social Media

Keep personal information to yourself. Sharing the names of your pets, your grandmother's name, or your favorite movie could lead to problems later on. This unique identifying information often composes the security questions for banks, credit cards, and other financial information. Oversharing personal info, therefore, can lead to identity theft. Remember that anything you post on the internet is in the public domain, even if you use privacy settings. While social media is a great way to stay in touch with friends and family, other people may also be able to see what you post.

Keep your social media profiles private. If possible, only post information privately. On social media platforms that do not allow private posting, post as little as possible. Try to limit yourself to reposts of existing material – links to articles or songs you liked, for instance. Keeping your social media profile private means that you'll only be sharing with a select few people (your friends or approved followers).

Turn off automatic location functions. Many apps have automatic check-in options to let people know where you are. This can be very dangerous for you and your family because it tells people where you are at the moment. Someone who has bad intentions can use that information to rob your home while you're away. By turning your location function off on your phone or tablet, you'll be better able to control who knows where you are, what you're doing, and when you're doing it. If you need to use your GPS, just turn the location function back on. Consult your user guide for your phone or tablet for more information about how you can turn off location sharing features.

Don't check in everywhere you go. Most people neither need nor want to know where you went grocery shopping, or what dog groomer you took your pet too. You can easily avoid oversharing these superfluous details of your day by turning off automatic location functions. Additionally, think carefully about where you check-in. Limit check-ins to special events and trips. Don't check-in when visiting your friends, the laundromat, or other places that do not hold special interest. Additionally, don't check-in from places far from home, since this will alert potential criminals that you won't be returning to your home any time soon.

Don't announce vacations or absences from home ahead of time. Like most people, you probably have many “friends” on social media who are in fact little more than acquaintances. Letting these people know that you will be away from home for a certain length of time might increase the likelihood that they will use this information to rob or vandalize your house.

Keeping Out of Trouble

Don't share pictures of others without consent. If you're taking pictures of friends or even family members, they might not like the pictures. And if they don't like the pictures, they probably won't want them available for the whole world to see on social media. Ask friends and others in the images you take if it is alright to post them on social media. In some places, posting images of children – even your own children – without their approval is illegal. If your child is old enough to ask whether you're posting a photo of them online, you should ask them if it is okay for you to do so. Even if others approve you posting the photo, think twice before doing so. Oversharing images of yourself with your friends or your children might grow tiresome for people consuming your social media.

Don't share incriminating information. There are a number of things you could say on social media that might damage your reputation or even get you in legal trouble. For instance, if you post how drunk you were last night (or drunk you are currently), the post might give a future employer or college application evaluator the wrong impression about who you are. Employers and colleges often check social media accounts, so your controversial posts could cost you your job or education. Likewise, if you are an illegal immigrant, you should not post information about how you came to be in your current country, or mention your current legal status.

Don't post anything related to your work. Posting critical comments about your coworkers, employer, or employees could land you in hot water. Even posting something good, though, might get you in trouble. For instance, if your employer sees you were using social media instead of working, they might be upset. Avoid sharing anything about your work experiences on social media. If you want, you could share where you work, but never relate stories about your workday on social media. Assume your employer will see all your social media posts.

Adopting Methods to Limit Sharing

Talk to your friends outside of social media. Instead of sharing everything you want to say to your friends on social media, catch up with them later and strike up a conversation about whatever it is you want to communicate. You can communicate with your friends about both online content and real-world situations or ideas. For instance, if you have a funny video you want your friends to see, arrange to meet them and say, “I have a funny video I think you'd like to see. Let's watch it together.” That way, you will ensure that they see it, since many people have so much information coming through their social media that they don't have time to check it all. You'll also avoid oversharing since you're adding one less post to social media. Don't forget the importance of face-to-face and phone conversations.

Respond to other posts. There's more to social media than just posting your own content about your own life. Limit your risk of oversharing by browsing news articles and commenting on friends' pages. Try to put the “social” in social media. It's especially important to respond to your friends' posts regarding sincere emotional pain. It's even better if you call or visit them as well. Responding to other posts on some social media platforms is best done through built-in approval indicators or by rebroadcasting the post you identified with, enjoyed, or found amusing.

Unplug for a while. Spend at least a day or two each week where you don't use social media at all. This will give you time to decompress from the information overload that can take hold of even seasoned web users. Taking time away from social media will reduce the pressure you might sometimes feel to contribute new content to your social media streams, which can lead to oversharing. If you find you're checking social media so much that it interferes with your work, academic, or real social life, implement a steeper cut in your social media usage. There are many things you can do instead of oversharing on social media. For instance, you could play baseball with your friends. You could invite your family for a hike in the woods. If you prefer spending time alone off of social media, you could catch up on your reading or learn how to bake a new recipe. Think about some of your favorite hobbies and spend time doing them instead of oversharing on social media.

Watch for signs of social media or internet addiction. Social media and the internet can reward your brain in the same way that drugs do, and they can cause you to become overstimulated if you use them throughout the day. You need to make sure that you have a life and interests outside of social media. If you find yourself constantly checking your accounts or struggling with oversharing, look for the symptoms of addiction: Feelings of guilt Anxiety Depression Dishonesty Euphoric feelings when in front of the computer Unable to keep schedules No sense of time Isolation