Modern-day parents increasingly engage in sharing of their children’s information and photos on social media. However, when parents post about their children on social media with high frequency, the phenomenon of “oversharenting” occurs. This research explores the impact of oversharenting on others’ desire to affiliate with parents. While parents post about their children to socialize with others, three experimental studies conducted with U.S. residents recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk demonstrate that parents who oversharent are viewed as less desirable acquaintances than parents who do not. This effect is mediated by observers’ perception that oversharenting constitutes a social norm violation (Study 1; N = 147). Specifically, observers assume that parents who oversharent try to become the center of attention through their children (Study 2; N = 168). The negative effect of oversharenting on affiliation is mitigated in the case of observers who themselves post frequently on social media (Study 3; N = 478). In summary, this research contributes to the understanding of parental sharing in social media environments by demonstrating that, paradoxically, parents’ oversharenting behavior may negatively affect the very goal that parents attempt to fulfill through social media sharing
