Visiting theories that predict college students’ self-disclosure on Facebook

• Different motives for Facebook use lead to the disclosure of different personal information.
• Time spent and number of friends on Facebook are significant predictors for self-disclosure.
• Users perceiving more benefit, rather than risks, tend to disclose more personal information.
• The effect of trust is significant only on “basic” information disclosure.
• The effect of gender difference is confirmed only on “basic” information disclosure.

This study explores factors that may explain information disclosure behavior on Facebook and provides understanding of each factor’s contribution in explaining such behavior. Factors tested in this study are drawn from theories (e.g., social contract theory and uses and gratification theory) and constructs (e.g., trust/self-disclosure relationships, time spent on Facebook, number of Facebook friends, and gender difference). Findings suggest the potential of all the factors examined in this study as frameworks to explain self-disclosure behavior on Facebook. This social media-specific study offers evidence that these theories may have implications that are different from the current e-commerce literature on self-disclosure. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed.