I am not actually being lighthearted about OCD. I am not a clinician and don't know what the tipping point is for a diagnosis, so would never suggest that somebody has it, but I do absolutely think there is a danger with internet forums and social media algorithms, especially around parenting, to tap into a thinking pattern which seems similar to what is described in OCD or reassurance-seeking anxiety, where there is almost a sort of one-upmanship around safety and making sure that you are aware of every possible danger and going to greater and greater lengths to eliminate them. The problem with these thinking patterns is that once you start it is hard to stop, it is hard to gauge what is "normal" and if you accidentally enter an arena where other people are operating in the same way then it both reinforces that your fear is logical and valid, and additionally people can end up egging each other on suggesting more and more ways to avoid or reduce risk. Or what I tend to notice with my own algorithms is that whatever thing I accidentally linger too long on (for me it tends to be house fires, car crashes and rare childhood illnesses) I will get served more and more of until I end up an anxious mess and I have to try and either re-train the algorithm to show me other things or step away from the internet altogether for a while.
Before anyone jumps on me, I do think it's helpful to have awareness of potential safety issues and absolutely to take steps to minimise risk especially where young children are concerned. But there has to be a balance between risk avoidance and risk acceptance. It is not possible to eliminate all and every risk at all times, so learning to be comfortable with this is important too.
I'm guessing it's prevalent in parenting spaces because there is probably some kind of hormonal shift which makes us hyper-aware of risk when we have recently given birth, which makes sense because babies and toddlers are vulnerable and have very little risk awareness of their own. But if you think about the context which this evolved in, we wouldn't have had access to so much terrifying and paralysing information, nor groups of people where we can hyperfocus on that one specific issue and worry about it. Without the internet you'd be exposed to more of a range of perspectives like in this thread - many people saying nah don't worry, it's fine, a smaller number saying oh yes that's valid, I worry about that too.
I don't know a huge amount about OCD but I do know that it can show up in different ways and not all of them are the more obvious or well known ones, but they all involve fear of harm coming to either yourself or (more commonly) a loved one, and that it is easier to spot when the connection is illogical (e.g. my family will die if I don't count my steps exactly) but it may also be involved with connections which seem logical (my child is at high risk of choking if they eat XYZ food). I know that I personally am prone to falling into OCD-like worry patterns with the reassurance seeking, this has been told to me by a doctor, although I am not actually diagnosed. Looking for ways to avoid or reduce risk is a form of reassurance seeking, which is difficult because obviously some degree of this is sensible and healthy. One podcast I listened to about it (Ologies with Allie Ward) the doctor being interviewed said that in his opinion, if you're spending more than an hour a day thinking/worrying about things like this, that is probably the point at which you should consider whether it's taking over and needs medical advice.