Motivation and self disclosure in social media use among Nigerian women

Self-disclosure on social media around the world, including in developing countries like Nigeria, has become an important way to create enduring relationships. Past research has shown that females are more open to sharing intimate information on social media than males, but this research has taken place mostly within the United States of America. This study focused on how the communication behaviors of self-disclosure play out distinctively among Nigerian women, specifically examining patterns of social media use, the amount of disclosure, and the factors that influenced the disclosure. The data was analyzed within the frameworks of Communication Privacy Management (CPM) theory and Social Penetration theory. Twenty female college-aged students between the ages of 18-26 who live in Nigeria and are active social media users were participants of the study. Focus groups were conducted and participants’ Facebook posts were analyzed. Findings from the study revealed that even though the participants use social media on a daily basis for different purposes, they are most motivated to use social media to maintain their relationships. They also carefully and strategically choose what intimate information they self-disclose and limit their audience when self-disclosing on social media. The women are cautious about hiding their posts from their parents and evil spirits, but still are motivated to disclose their life experiences for the purpose of helping others. The social media use of Nigerian women and their motivation for sharing certain private information online is supported by CPM. Moreover, the women’s decisions to not disclose certain information or to fabricate other information also supported the theory’s assumption that individuals have the ownership of their private information. Subsequently, the women’s deliberate way of disclosing information in a private Facebook group validated Altman and Taylor’s (1973) onion analogy in Social Penetration theory that human beings tend to disclose core private information to people with whom they have close intimacy. While joining the theoretical conversations, the study contributed to the body of knowledge particularly on social media in different cultural settings.