October 8, 2009

Oversharing is the act of sharing too much information (TMI) with people who are not necessarily prepared or qualified to receive it. With the increasing popularity of social websites and personal blogs, the potentially hazardous practice of oversharing has become much more common. No wonder the editors at Webster's New World Dictionary selected the useful verb "overshare" as the Word of the Year in 2008 to capture the zeitgeist of the Age of Too Much Information.

Different people may have different ideas over what constitutes oversharing, so they may not realize they are making others feel uncomfortable. Once the oversharing line has been crossed, it is often difficult to erase those images from others' minds.

Other times the oversharing may be an attempt to break the ice socially or create a shortcut to intimacy. By sharing a few minor embarrassing moments with strangers, the oversharer lets others in the group know it's okay to let down their guards and be more open themselves. This form of oversharing may have some immediate benefits, but there are still lines that should not be crossed. A lighthearted revelation about an embarrassing childhood memory may be okay, but an intimate confession about a marital affair would definitely qualify as oversharing.

Definitely, some people have always been more naturally inclined toward oversharing than others. One reason they feel compelled to overshare with strangers or coworkers is a poorly developed personal network of intimate friends. Those with few personal friends or empathetic relatives may see their coworkers or even total strangers as an extended family. While it may not be acceptable to blurt out too much information to strangers, it may feel acceptable to overshare with coworkers at lunch or the friendly cashier at a local restaurant. Some people perceive a level of intimacy that does not actually exist, but the illusion may be preferable to the reality.

While some oversharing may be perfectly acceptable as a social icebreaker, it is generally a good idea to develop a sense of propriety in order to avoid sharing far too much personal information with people who are not expecting to receive it.

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