Hesitation While Posting: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Sensitive Topics and Opinion Sharing on Social Media

Abstract

This paper explores the habits of people when posting on several topics on social media platforms. We recruited 160 college-level students to participate in an online survey. Our survey asked respondents to indicate their likelihood to post on seven topics, as well as indicate why they may be hesitant to post on these topics. Self-identity, politics, health and mental health, finance and business, and science and technology emerged as sensitive topics which give rise to some level of self-censorship. Many respondents reported various reasons explaining their hesitation, including fear of negative responses or that a friend or family member might see the post. We also observed several differences between men and women respondents, especially on the topics of education and health. Our efforts could inform future research on the Spiral of Silence theory as it provides new topic-based evidence on selective posting habits.

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