October 1st 2019
‘John’ and ‘Sarah’ are the names of people most likely to overshare online. A poll of 2,056 UK adults – commissioned for Get Safe Online Week – reveals the top male and female names most likely to give too much away on social media:
Help, don’t ‘hide’, the oversharers
Nearly half (47%) of people have either ‘hidden’ or ‘muted’ a relative because they can’t deal with their life updates. People feel particularly offended by too many posts (44%), misleading pictures (36%), selfies (29%), cryptic status updates (27%), hashtags (21%) and people checking themselves in at airports (21%).
When asked who in their social networks they would most like to educate to be more digitally responsible online, 15% of people said a friend. This was followed by their mum (13%) and a sibling (11%).
Tony Neate, CEO, Get Safe Online, comments: “We’ve all got a friend or relative who shares too much information. But oversharing online is more than just a bit annoying. Images could surface years later causing potential harm. Or cybercriminals could piece information together to commit identity fraud. We need to make sure those in our wider network understand how they could be putting themselves, their family, their friends, their finances and their identity at risk. So, if you spot someone close to you oversharing, don’t just mute them. Give them some tips on how they can share more responsibly.”
