I’ll (Not) be Home for Christmas: The Impact of the Pandemic on Evaluation Apprehension and Self-Disclosure during the 2020 Holidays

Social distancing was encouraged and sometimes enforced via lockdowns during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, people still needed to socialize to combat feelings of loneliness, so many turned to social media. While online interactions were encouraged, sharing about behaviors considered unsafe during the pandemic was met with increased shaming and vitriol. This study focuses on understanding whether and why online self-disclosure behaviors changed during the holiday season – a time many people believe should be spent with family and loved ones – because of the pandemic. We collected two rounds of survey data in December 2020 from Facebook and Instagram users. Our results show significant differences between the kinds of information disclosed online between 2019 and 2020. We also found that evaluation apprehension moderated the relationship between predicted and reported behaviors for socially desirable information – such as wearing a mask and working from home.