Oversharing

02What People Think

Being open means telling people the whole story.

03What’s Underneath

Oversharing concerns the fit between a disclosure and its setting. Personal information can be welcome in one relationship and uncomfortable in another. How much detail is appropriate depends on trust, purpose, timing, the audience, and whether the listener has any real choice about receiving it.

A new colleague asks a passing question near the coffee machine. The answer becomes a detailed account of a private dispute, complete with screenshots. The speaker may be seeking connection, but the listener has unexpectedly been assigned the role of confidant, adviser, and keeper of information they did not request.

Online, a disclosure can also outlast the mood or relationship in which it was made. A post may involve other people’s privacy as well as the author’s. Sharing openly can be valuable; the relevant boundary is whether the amount and sensitivity of information suit the situation and respect everyone involved.

04The Game

Why does this audience need these details, and have they agreed to this kind of conversation? What might change if the information reaches someone beyond the people you currently imagine?