My DD (13) is about to join Instagram. She’s well prepared, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about social media and using it safely.
But there is one thing I can’t seem to find any advice about - maintaining my privacy online and on social media! I’m struggling to know how to handle this and would love to hear some thoughts.
My work means that I have an online presence, she has Googled me before and found articles I’ve written. She is very interested in my work which is lovely but I’m finding myself thinking twice about writing articles about certain topics in case she finds them.
My work is not inherently ‘adult’ but there are definitely subjects and angles that I don’t fancy sharing with her. I don’t want to go into too much detail but my work sometimes touches on my own unpleasant experiences in response to current events. DD is obviously not the intended audience for my work and yet I’m starting to censor myself - at the expense of my work - for fear of her coming across things.
I’m quite active on Instagram and my work is tied into my presence on there. I’m trying to figure out how to strike the balance between being open with her and maintaining my own identity.
Does anybody have any tips? Is fiddling with my settings so that she can only see certain posts the way to go? Do I need to set up a different Instagram and block my work one completely? I’ve even considered using a pen name for my online work going forward! 😬 How do you peacefully coexist with your child online?
I’d be so grateful for any advice.