Self-Disclosure Characteristics and Motivations in Social Media: Extending the Functional Model to Multiple Social Network Sites

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in self-disclosure goals, privacy concerns, and self-disclosure characteristics between Facebook and Twitter. These sites were compared in terms of audience representations, based on structural cues that suggest potential audiences for a user. We conceptualized audience representations in 2 ways: based on privacy boundaries that imply bounded versus unbounded audiences, and on network characteristics such as size and diversity for audiences within the boundary. Results revealed that self-disclosure goals, privacy concerns, and self-disclosure intimacy were different depending on the privacy boundary. Network characteristics were also important, but effects were moderated by the privacy boundary type, suggesting a complex interplay between the 2 types of audience representations in shaping self-disclosure in social media.