Been talking (being nosy) to one of my close friends about some personal issues (nothing serious) they were having and they were quite reluctant to tell me. However, as the conversation progressed they slipped and said they already discussed it with one of their online buddies who is from another country. I prodded and despite my excellent probing skills, they didn’t budge. I wondered to myself, “why tell a stranger and not me, their dear old trustworthy friend?” And that is how the idea for this post came about 
What Is Self-Disclosure?
According to Jourard and Lasakow (1958) self-disclosure is “the process of making the self known to others”. For example, talking about how you’re feeling with others and giving your personal views on matters. Self-disclosure often builds trust and strengthens relationships through mutual understanding (Rubin, 1975), help legitimises group membership and strengthens group identity (Whitty & Joinson, 2009). Also, it is known to help with personal growth. Pennebaker, Baker, Keicolt-Glaser and Glaser (1988) found that research participants who wrote over a period of four days about their trauma/upsetting experience showed immune systems benefits when compared with those participants who didn’t.
Is self-disclosure different on the Internet?
A myriad of research studies and some theories have looked at self-disclosure and technology, here I consider it with regards to the Internet.
Stranger-On-The-Train Phenomenon
One of the first insights into self-disclosure was the stranger-on-the-train phenomenon. This theory holds that individuals find it easier to be truthful with strangers than with their friends and family, perhaps due to the anonymity involved. Accordingly, researchers saw that these findings had obvious implications for self-disclosure on the Internet as this medium is partially characterised by anonymity.
People Simply Disclose More Online
Joinson and Paine (2007) and Joinson (2001) found that people tend to disclose more information about themselves online compared in face-to-face (FtF) situations. Also, investigations looking at research administered online in comparison to paper-based methods found that there was a reduction in participants’ socially desirable responding (Joinson, 1999), higher levels of disclosure (Weisband & Kiesler, 1996) and also an increased willingness to answer sensitive questions (Whitty & Joinson, 2009).
So considering my initial question, I won’t take offence to my friend’s decision to ‘spill the beans’ to a ‘stranger’ instead of me.
Yes, We Blab But We Still Value Our Anonymity
As mentioned earlier, the anonymity associated with the Internet seems to be the catalyst for the ease of self-disclosure in the medium. However, why do we talk about ourselves so easily if we value anonymity? One answer to this question comes from Uncertainty Reduction theory (URT, Berger & Calabrese, 1975). Though a little more complex, this theory simply proposes that we are motivated to reduce uncertainty when interacting with others so to increase predictability and therefore, we blab. So there you have it.
Do you agree it’s easier for you to ‘spill the beans online’ or do you think this is somewhat untrue?
