How COVID-19 Stole Christmas: How the Pandemic Shifted the Calculus Around Social Media Self-Disclosures

During the COVID-19 pandemic, social media use increased significantly, and news media also reported increased levels of social shaming for behaviors that were now deemed high-risk for spreading or contracting the virus. This study examines how this pandemic-afflicted environment changed what and how individuals disclosed online during the 2020 holiday season. Using data collected at two time periods in December 2020 from Facebook and Instagram users, the data show that social calculus constructs comprise most of the significant predictors for online self-disclosure; evaluation apprehension is also a significant moderator. In a post-hoc analysis with 2019 disclosure data, this study finds that most of the significant predictors of behavior arise from privacy calculus, providing evidence of a shift in the salient predictors of online self-disclosure. The implications of this research to businesses and future research directions are discussed.