Shy Kiwis still share on social networks

New Zealanders are willing to share a bit of their lives on social networks, but not everything. Photo / supplied

A social media project that asked New Zealanders to "share everything" has revealed that while they are willing to share what is going on, there is also self-censorship.

Last Friday, Vodafone hosted the first 'Share Everything Day', inviting Kiwis to share what was happening in their world over 24 hours.

The project received 6500 tweets, texts, picture files and status updates, which formed the script of a video released today.

It has also revealed that while New Zealanders are prolific users of social media, they are also shy about what they share with the world

Psychologist Sara Chatwin said the video revealed that New Zealanders tended to self-censor and share only at a superficial level.

"People had a tendency to censor themselves when they feel they aren't anonymous, it takes a degree of courage to bare all with your name attached, even online. New Zealanders have a reputation as being a private nation and as a result seem to take a conservative approach to sharing."

She said it was not unusual for people to talk about 'safe' topics such as the weather, pets and coffee consumption.

"Unlike our counterparts in America and Britain, social-networking is still a relatively new phenomenon for Kiwis. These results could indicate our wary approach to something that we're not quite used to. Whether we will ever be as open and overt as our American counterparts remains to be seen."

The 'Share everything' video:

- HERALD ONLINE