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ISBN: 978-972-8939-25-0 © 2010 IADISPREDICTING SELF DISCLOSURE ON PUBLIC BLOGSChyng-Yang Jang* and Michael A. Stefanone***Department of Communication, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA**Department of Communication, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, USAABSTRACTThe majority of blogs are personal in nature and open to the public. While self disclosure is essential for relationshipdevelopment, people who publicly post intimate information may incur privacy risks. This study aims to explore howpersonality traits and communication context influence the level of self disclosure on personal blogs. The analyses ofsurvey data from 148 bloggers suggest that offline self disclosure tendencies persist online in the blogosphere. Inaddition, extraverted bloggers, surprisingly, disclosed less personal information than their introverted peers. Finally,contrary to the prediction of social disinhibition theory, bloggers who thought they could be identified by their readersreported higher levels of self disclosure.KEYWORDSBlog, Self disclosure, Computer-mediated communication.1. INTRODUCTIONReading and authoring blogs have become increasingly popular activities among Internet users (PEW, 2006).Previous studies found that the majority of blogs are personal in nature as they document bloggers’ dailyevents, thoughts and experiences. (Herring et al., 2005; PEW, 2006; Schiano et al., 2004; Viégas, 2005). Forthese personal-journal style bloggers, Web blogs have been adopted as a channel for often intimate selfdisclosure to audiences of close friends and family.Self disclosure is the "process of making the self known to others" (Jourard and Lasakow, 1958, p. 91) byrevealing personal feelings, reflections, and/or needs (Archer, 1980; Johnson, 1981). It has been recognizedas an important communication practice that facilitates personal growth (Jourard, 1971), relationshipdevelopment (Fehr, 2004), group acceptance (Galegher et al., 1998), and social integration (Pennebaker,1997). However, revealing intimate, personal information to others may present risks as well. Serious andnegative outcomes such as embarrassment, disapproval, rejection, or even discrimination can result from selfdisclosure (Derlega et al., 1993). This range of possible personal and interpersonal consequences makedisclosers potentially vulnerable and require them to carefully choose message recipients, the information todisclose, and the appropriate level of intimacy.While self disclosure is a delicate communication act on its own, engaging in such sharing behavior viablogs forces people to consider additional variables. Web blogs present a very different medium for selfdisclosure opposed to conventional contexts like face-to-face or telephone conversations. On the one hand,posting private matters publicly online can subject the disclosers to greater danger because this informationcan be accessed by potentially global audiences. For example, when personal reflections on friends orcolleagues are read by unintended others, it can lead to severe consequences including damaginginterpersonal relationships and even job loss (Viégas, 2005). In addition, unlike in face-to-face gatherings,there is no real-time correspondence between bloggers and their readers. Bloggers are not able to adjust thecontent of their disclosure in real time based on receivers’ responses. In face-to-face communication, thesekinds of adjustments are made to avoid some of the unpleasant responses.On the other hand, the broadcast and asynchronous nature of blogs may provide distinct advantages thatare not available in traditional interpersonal communication channels. By allowing large numbers of readersto access the content of bloggers’ self disclosure at their own convenience, Web blogs can be an efficientway to disseminate personal information for a variety of goals including initiating new relationships (Baker244