Self-Censorship.

Most people that are active in social media believe that their profiles online should represent who they are and what they believe. The more connected people are to their friends online, the more that their actions matter in real life. If you make a post that attracts a lot of attention online, someone may say something to you about it in real life. If you are consistently funny on Facebook or Twitter, your friends or peers may expect the same of you in real life, too.

Despite the high amount of content posted by users online, there is probably even more that isn't posted.

Censorship in the Form of Self-Restraint.

Terms like "attention whoring" and "begging for likes" are thrown around frequently whenever someone posts content just to receive the recognition or notoriety for whatever they post. The fact that these terms are commonly used online shows that there is a certain level of insecurity or low self-esteem associated with at least a portion of social media users. While this can viewed as some kind of psychological weakness, it may also be the source of content control, my preferred term for self-censorship.

When users implement content control, they stop themselves from posting anything online that may not align very well with either themselves or the people that receive updates from them. It removes some of the uncertainty that a post may not be well received by a particular online community and provides content that is more relevant and better-suited to the tastes of interested parties.

In the article linked above, the numbers show that a majority of Facebook users participate in self-censorship when posting anything on the social network. In an environment as content-driven as Facebook, it is important to the company itself that users implement content control when posting anything. Since the company itself won't remove posts on any page that isn't associated with them, the only moderation as to what is posted on individual profiles comes from the profiles themselves. If other users get fed up with what is being frequently posted, they may choose to abandon the site altogether.

While Facebook may not be the only site where self-censorship is a common happening, it may be where it happens most often. Social networks where it is acceptable for users to post often, such as Twitter and Tumblr, don't necessarily condone content control, since clutter is expected in the feeds of active users. Facebook, however, should attempt to use the fact that their users control themselves, to its advantage in some way.