Facebook self-disclosure: Examining the role of traits, social cohesion, and motives

•We surveyed 301 Facebook users to explore predictors of self-disclosive behavior.•Uses and gratifications theory was a useful model to explain self-disclosure.•Motives and Big Five personality traits predicted disclosive behaviors.•Facebookers who seek attention, and existing and new relationships were disclosive.•Surprisingly, women and men did not differ in self-disclosive behavior.

Facebook has been shown to be the most popular social network in the United States. Facebook not only has implications in the online world, but face-to-face connections are also affected by this medium. This study explores the uses of Facebook for self-disclosure behavior utilizing the uses and gratifications perspective. Using a convenience sample of Facebook users, this study examines individual and sociological factors as well as Facebook motives to discover the impact on depth, breadth, and amount of user self-disclosure. Path analyses showed that the Big Five personality factors, self-esteem, social cohesion, and motives contribute to self-disclosure dimensions. However, demographic variables did not impact disclosiveness. Limitations are discussed and directions for future research are proposed.