Oversharing: Presentations of Self in the Internet Age

People ‘overshare’ when they interact with others through the screens of computers and smartphones. Oversharing means to divulge more of their inner feelings, opinions and sexuality than they would in person, or even over the phone. Text messaging, Facebooking, tweeting, camming, blogging, online dating, and internet porn are vehicles of this oversharing, which blurs the boundary between public and private life. This book examines these ‘presentations of self’, acknowledging that we are now much more public about what used to be private. The book concludes with reflections on the impact of oversharing on identity, friendship, sexuality, family and democracy, and suggests steps people can take to re-establish the boundary between public and personal life.