When Sharing Less Means More: How Gender Moderates the Impact of Quantity of Information Shared in a Social Network Profile on Profile Viewers' Intentions About Socialization

Abstract

This study summarizes the results from a 2 (low vs. high information) × 2 (female vs. male profile) experiment that investigates the impact of quantity of information shared on a Social Network Site (SNS) profile on viewers' intentions to pursue further interactions with the profile owner. Quantity of information had no statistically significant effect on intentions to further socialize online. The two-way interaction between information quantity and profile gender was such that for male profiles more information increased profile viewers' intentions to further socialize with the profile owner whereas for female profiles the opposite was the case. The three-way interactions among quantity of information profile gender and profile viewer's gender underline a tendency for male profile viewers to respond more positively to higher information shared by profiles from their own gender. For female viewers this effect although in the same direction was smaller. © 2014 Copyright Eastern Communication Association.