I’ve been thinking lately about the ways that internet and technology have affected human socialization. Too often I meet people that find it hard to communicate with others face-to-face because they are so used to communicating via text messaging, social media, etc.
Most folks growing up in modern American culture are not taught how to cope with intense emotions, social isolation, psychological trauma, or other hardships that affect how we interact with others. Thus, it makes sense that the internet has become an outlet for many people experiencing trouble in their life.
I personally was not taught these things and I didn’t realize until adulthood how my lack of communication about my feelings and desires was affecting my relationships. This realization made me think back to my internet activity as a young teenager. I was willing to share my deepest, darkest emotions to strangers online (those following my Tumblr), yet completely unable to express the trouble I was going through to anyone around me. Perhaps it was easier to write things down, edit them, and send them out (seemingly) into the abyss of cyberspace than to unload that emotional baggage onto others in person. I didn’t know how common this form of online self-disclosure was until quite recently.
While I think that there is certainly a limit to the extent of self-disclosure online, I don’t necessarily think it is a bad thing. It can often help you connect with others who are having the same experiences and may not be willing or able to share them with the people around them. The problems come when internet use becomes a barrier to face-to-face communication. It is important to reach out to people in your life even when it seems difficult. The more secretive and selectively-presented persona of online users can often lead to being taken advantage of or to disclosing too much information about yourself.
As I’ve grown and learned more about myself, I now find it both inappropriate and unnecessary to self-disclose personal information online. I still enjoy sharing my passions and occasional tribulations with those who follow my blog, but I have gained the communication skills to share deeper things with my offline support system. Ultimately, I think others should try to do the same.
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