An Analysis of Parenting from Online Confessions

摘要

Anonymous networks offer unique environments for emotion-expression. In this work, we study the expression of emotion in the Scary Mommy Confessional, an anonymous message board, where parents (mostly mothers) post anonymous comments about motherhood, and family life in general. This paper explores how the intensity of sentiment in a confession evokes specific reactions from the readers. Results show that three effects are at work: (1) Ancient Mariner effect: tendency to disclose more intimate information to strangers, (2) Dark Side: tendency to disclose information that has more negative sentiment and (3) Emotional contagion: tendency to be influenced by the emotions.