The Impact of What Others Do, Approve Of, and Expect You to Do: An In-Depth Analysis of Social Norms and Self-Disclosure on Social Media

Abstract

There are many factors that account for disclosure of private information on social network sites, but a potentially powerful determinant that remains understudied is social norms, which refer to perceptions of what other people do, approve of, and expect us to do on social media. To address this gap, we conducted an in-depth analysis of descriptive, injunctive, and subjective norms for verbal and visual disclosure on Facebook and Instagram, using a preregistered survey study with 863 participants. We further analyzed whether critical media literacy and media-related self-reflection could buffer against uncritical adoption of these norms. The findings revealed that all three types of norms positively and independently predicted self-disclosure, regardless of the platform or type of self-disclosure (visual vs. verbal), while controlling for other common predictors of self-disclosure, including perceived benefits and risks of self-disclosure. Self-reflection and critical media literacy neither directly predicted disclosure, nor accounted for differences in norm-behavior relationships.