Does Social Media encourage too much revelation?

I’ve been watching some interesting debates going  on lately about oversharing on Social Media sites by some people and the reaction that it provokes in others.

A lot of the most recent discussions have focused on the sharing of location, the safety and privacy issues that these tools bring to the forefront. However, location tools are not the only place where this perceived oversharing takes place.  Jill Hanner who is based in NYC and does promo work for Ford has shared in a video about her experience of sexual harassment in the workplace. She presented a very reasoned case and I have to agree that this type and any type of bullying whether in real life or online is awful.

Jill recently also posted video and pictures of herself in a bikini. Now she is a very beautiful woman, she is young and there is no reason why she shouldn’t be proud of her body. However, when she posted the picture of herself in her bikini to her Facebook page one “friend” questioned her for doing so, pointing out that she had remarked on harrassment and was now inviting it by posting alluring pictures of herself. Other “friends” were quick to jump to her defense pointing out that a woman should not be considered to be “inviting” harrassment or any other form of unwanted attention simply because of the clothes that she wears.

Poppy Dinsey posts a daily picture of her outfits everyday on her Posterous blog. Recently she was on vacation in Spain and so her daily pics often showed her in a bikini. Poppy is an entrepreneur based in London, England.  Again should she be judged for sharing revealing pictures of herself?

The real question comes from what we consider to be professional. Is it possible for the modern business woman to post these pictures and still retain the same level of professional credibility as those that don’t? Does Social Media encourage and invite people who are already fairly open in real life to be even more so with the distance that technology affords? Are these young women, and I don’t mean just Jill & Poppy but others who also regularly share pictures of a more revealing nature inviting “judgement” more than just a woman who wears revealing clothes to the office?

There is no “dress code” for the internet, however,is there a double standard at play here. I would definitely lose not only credibility but reputation if I were to post pictures of me in a speedo. Ok, agreed a lot of that has to do with the fact that I’m in my forties and hardly have an adonis like physique, however, even if I did look like the Old Spice guy would it be appropriate? Would people feel I had shared too much?