Social Media: Are Some People Happy To Lose Their Privacy In Order To Gain Attention?

When one spends time with their close friends or family, they are likely to open up about different areas of their life. And the reason one is going to do this is because they trust these people.

If this wasn’t the case, then one wouldn’t be friends with them, and even though they were their family, they would only disclose certain things with them. This will show that one is taking the sensible approach.

On The Other Hand

However, one could also be in a position where they don’t trust their friends or family and yet they still open up to them. Through doing this, not only will they be setting themselves up for problems; there is the chance that they will have already been taken advantage of on numerous occasions.

Therefore, although they have been harmed in one way or another in the past, they continue to behave in the same way. What this will show is that even though one is being harmed by others, they are the ones who are letting it happen.

Discernment

This emphasis how important it is for one to be discerning when it comes to who they share their life with. If they are selective, their relationships with others will be a lot more fulfilling, and they will stop themselves from suffering unnecessarily.

But if they don’t, their relationships with others are not going to be very fulfilling, and they will end up suffering. One way of looking at this would be to say that one doesn’t think about how their behaviour is influencing their life, and even if they do, it is not having an effect.

Attention

There is also the chance that the reason why one doesn’t change their behaviour is because they need to receive a lot of attention. As a result of this, one is not going to be thinking about how is effecting their life.

In fact, one could believe that receiving attention is more important than protecting themselves. Another way of looking at this would be to say that the pain they would experience through not receiving enough attention is going to be harder for them to handle than the pain they are likely to experience through sharing their life with anyone.

Two Options

When one has this outlook, it could be said that they believe they only have two options in life. And until they realise that there are other options available, they are going to continue to behave in the same way.
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One thing they could do is to look into why they need so much attention, and through doing this, they may be able to find a way to settle themselves down. During this time, they could find that they didn’t receive enough attention when they were younger, and it might then mean that they need to grieve their unmet childhood needs, for instance.

Other Elements

This is not to say that this is the only thing they will need to do, as they may also need to work on their boundaries. Along with this, one may also need to change how they feel about themselves.

Once they do this, they might no longer feel the need to engage in self-destructive behaviour. And the times it takes for one to change their behaviour is likely to depend on a number of different factors.

Today’s World

However, while one can share their whole life with the wrong people in the real world, they can also do the same thing online through using social media. This is not only something that can take place sending a private message; it is also something that can happen through sharing a status.

So as long as they have a device, they will be able to share their life with others, and this means it won’t matter where they are. And because it is easy for them to do this, they might not even think about what they are doing.

Privacy

Therefore, their experience can be just like it would be in the real world; with them being focused on doing everything they can to receive attention. Thus, they are not going to think about how they are exposing themselves online.

This will mean that they will be revealing parts of themselves to people they don’t know very well, and this could also have a negative effect on their career. If their employer or a future employer was to see something they have shared, they could lose their job or it could stop them from getting one.

The Other Side

But it could be said that this is only one part of it; the other part of this is going to be how one is giving away important information to people who could harm them in others ways. On one side, the site they are sharing their information on could use it against them, and on the other side, they could sell the information to someone else.

Yet even if this doesn’t take place, it doesn’t mean it won’t get passed on, and this is because their account could be hacked. Having said that, if one shares their whole life online, someone else might be able to obtain all the information they need by looking through their page, and this means that they won’t need to be their ‘friend’ or to hack their account.

Conclusion

What this shows is how important it is for one to protect their privacy no matter whether they are offline or online. And while it might be hard for one to cut down on what they share in the beginning, they will soon find that it gets easier.

Through doing this, not only will one be protecting themselves; they will also be protecting their friends and family. When it comes to letting go of their need to receive so much attention, one can use the same approach that was mentioned earlier in the article, and they may also need to reach out for external support.

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Oliver JR Cooper
http://www.oliverjrcooper.co.uk/