As the capabilities of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram continue to grow, so does our usage. People are no longer just sharing travel photos, selfies, or pictures of what they had to eat that day; and debates on Twitter have far outstretched what crazy thing happened on TV. People are now using the internet as an outlet to share everything that is happening in their lives, good, bad and ugly.
Take this past Wednesday for example, Twitter user @steenfox asked her followers who were victims of sexual assault to share what they were wearing when they were assaulted. The responses were overwhelming, leading to a discussion on rape and sexual assault — on Twitter.
A 19-year-old student named Mori Gabrielle Montgomery also used social media to share a very personal experience this week when she posted gruesome photos of herself following a domestic violence encounter with her boyfriend. She wrote that she wasn’t sharing the photo for pity, but for other women to know they don’t deserve to have the same thing happen to them. “You can leave any relationship before it gets this extreme or god-forbid worse,” she said.
While we respect everyone’s right to share what they want, we wonder when sharing becomes over-sharing. At this point we have seen everything from financial troubles to photos of deceased relatives on our timelines. Where should we draw the line? What’s too personal for social media?
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