Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 17, 2025

Loneliness Assuaged: Eye-Tracking an Audience Watching Barrage Videos
Published on: May 29, 2020
When do Online Audiences Amplify Benefits of Self-Disclosure? The Role of Shared Experience and Anticipated
Rachel F Kornfield1, Catalina L Toma2
1Northwestern University.
Abstract:
As individuals increasingly write about their distressing experiences online, it is important to understand how perceived online audiences influence the effects of self-disclosure. In an experiment, participants wrote about recent breakups for online audiences purportedly varying in 1) whether they shared recent breakup experiences and 2) their ability to leave comments. Participants perceiving audiences with shared experience showed more cognitive processing in their writing and reported increased post-traumatic growth at follow-up than participants perceiving general audiences. Those anticipating comments wrote less about emotions than those who did not. Mechanisms accounting for the benefits of shared experience warrant further investigation.
Related Concept Videos
Social Foundations of Self IV: Self in Digital Communication
Processes of Self-Presentation
Relationship Growth
The Sense of Self: Reflected Self-Appraisal and Social Comparison
Group Polarization
Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification

