Social Media: Conflicting Comfort Levels with Social Sharing

At a party over the weekend I got fired up in a discussion with a friend about sharing over social networks. You may find it interesting or even surprising to know that I am dead set against sharing over certain social networks. The topic of our discussion started with my absolute hatred of Fitocracy, a fitness social network in which users earn points for fitness activities. It’s supposed to inspire healthy competition among friends. I checked it out because I have several friends (guys) who enjoy it and, in fact, it is the only social network in which they engage.

For me, fitness and health is intensely personal. For them, it is not. These same friends are aghast at the level of sharing I do on blogs, Facebook and Twitter. They would never create a YouTube video and share it publicly. For me, these activities are natural.

Spotify is another hotly discussed network. Whereas I am reluctant to always share my listening choices and will engage “private” mode often, my friend D. will not ever share the music he’s listening to — and M., who doesn’t share ANYTHING on Facebook, has his Spotify account connected to Facebook and shares, socially, all the tracks and playlists he enjoys.

It’s fascinating to me, the personal decisions people make on what to share — and what is absolutely off-limits on a social platform. We’re all so different with these levels of comfort and the platforms we choose to use.

Where do you draw the lines when sharing on social platforms?