We live in a very connected world. Not only can you send messages around the world in a matter of milliseconds, you can automatically update exactly where you are to your social network. We share a lot of data and information about ourselves. Sharing helps build relationships, but how much sharing is too much?
We tweet amusing thoughts that come to mind. We checkin to Foursquare. We like and share and post links to content. We’re more and more connected to our network, sharing information that we probably wouldn’t even have dared to just a few years ago.
Sharing your thoughts and experiences helps others get to know you. People are more likely to do business with people they know. Connecting with people via social media helps strengthen or build relationships with people you have met or will meet in person.
The lines between our personal and private lives are blurring. What we would have shared only with family and close friends, we’re sending out into the public. Does this bring us closer together? Or is some information too much?
Facebook’s recent privacy changes show just tenuous our hold is on our private information and conversations. I’ve always maintained that you should never post or say anything online that you’re not comfortable with having out in the public forever. But there are conversations that I think are better between just a few people.
Foursquare allows you to check in just about anywhere. Should you check in at the dentist? What about the urologist? Would you publicize where you are or what you did in a newspaper or on the evening news?
I think there really is a limit to how much information people want about others (including those in their family). Some sharing and information is good. We get to know more about the people behind the pictures and avatars. We form deeper, more meaningful relationships. But, just like the blind date that says too much the first meeting, too much information can be a huge turn off.
What do you think? How much information is too much? Do we share too much?