This one is hard. My sister asked me what I thought about sharing photos of your children on social media and, like many other topics I blog about, there’s no clear answer. But here are my thoughts…
We don’t share a lot about our kids on social media – but we do share some photos (a lot fewer of the twins as they get older), and I do use some images of my toddler in this blog.
Why do we share? Well, our kids are adorable, and we want the world to see them, tell us how cute they are and make us feel good about ourselves. I’m only being a little sarcastic here. Part of the way we alleviate the loneliness of raising kids in today’s society is to share about them online and get a little connection with others around their lives. This is not something to be diminished – connection is important, actually it is essential.
Why do we not share? The biggest argument is that children don’t have the ability to consent to having their images shared, and as what you post online today is typically owned by the social media company forever after that, the decision to post a cute baby photo today potentially has life-long implications for your kids.
And yes, most of the social media companies have improved in the ability to remove your material down the line, but do you really want to have to deal with all of that?
I think I come down on the side that a little is ok, but no posting photos that would embarrass and upset my children as they get older. In the same way as I seek to manage my own social media presence (and don’t post embarrassing photographs of myself), I hope to give the same respect to my kids – but oh, they are so perfect, and I’d love to share all the photos with everyone out there 🙂
