Two situations which have taught me about self-disclosure

The 4.1 and 4.2 lessons made me remember occasions that I have participated in self-disclosure. Both occasions had negative consequences. The first occasion was a time I told my Friend John about a business idea I had told him. I told John that I wanted to start a bakery and I needed some finances from him. I remember he told me to wait for one week before he could lend me the requested money. Due to the patience skills I have, I was calm and waited for the money from him. The week elapsed and John had not given me the money. When I tried to reach him, he never answered my calls. On the 9 th day, a friend of John told me that John was negatively talking behind my back. John was telling everyone that I needed the money to buy electronics. Another situation happened when I posted nice pictures on my Facebook timeline holding my new phone. The phone was presented to me by my parents due to the exemplary improvements in my school grades. My Facebook friend Paul happened to be my neighbor and invited me the next day to party with him. He also invited some of his friends to the party. During the party, we had enjoyed ourselves and partied. 

At the end of the day, I started searching my phone, but I never found it. I reported the matter to the police to track it. After five days, the phone was found at my friend's place. From the two scenarios, I realized my self-closure caused negative consequences. From the 4.1 and 4.2 lessons, I have learned not to disclose a lot of private information to some friends and public places like Facebook. By utilizing the self-disclosure strategies I learned in class, I could have considered the benefits, the risks, being brief, and considering the values of people with whom I share personal information. The circumstances I should have used when self-disclosing my life ideas to Facebook and John is the aspect of close intimacy. In my understanding, John was not my closest friend and he had duped people sometimes back. Specifically, I should have used the social exchange theory and social penetration theory in coming with ideal self-disclosure strategies. The two theories postulate that as relationships develop, interpersonal relationships and communications move from shallow to intimate ones.