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Original poster

Do you post your kids pictures on social media?

152 replies

golden547 · 15/10/2022 23:55

I'm having a baby really soon and have had comments from people saying they can't wait to see pictures on my social media, but I'm unsure if I actually want to post my child's pictures online. There's just something about it that makes me feel uneasy.

Do you post pics of your kids? If not, why?

OP posts:
ofwarren · 15/10/2022 23:57

I do but my Facebook account is family only.

FlippertyGibberts · 15/10/2022 23:57

I have in the past, but now I post a lot less. I can't quite explain why either - I suppose they're their own person, so I wonder whether I have the right to really. And they're growing up with FB etc.; I wonder what that will mean for them in the longer term.

Kite22 · 16/10/2022 00:00

Yes.
I have privacy settings on my Facebook and only have family and friends as 'facebook friends'
However, if you don't want to, then don't. It isn't compulsory.

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Families
TescoCustomerService · 16/10/2022 00:01

I never post pictures and don't allow anyone else to. If I want a family member/members/friends to see a picture, I'll send it to them privately and individually.

CraigDavid · 16/10/2022 00:02

Only on my Instagram that is private and has family and close friends following only.

ChagSameachDoreen · 16/10/2022 00:03

No. I respect my daughter's privacy.

Ohwellwhateverthen · 16/10/2022 00:03

No, and no one else is allowed either. This stance was dictated by my husband, who has incredibly strong feelings about social media. He believes it should be individual choice to have your image online, and our children are not yet old enough to consent.

ellieboolou · 16/10/2022 00:06

No

teaandtoastwithmarmite · 16/10/2022 00:08

We set up a private group for this and said if people don't want to be in it it's fine. Now she's 9 she often asks me not to abs I do respect that

RosieRainbow1986 · 16/10/2022 00:08

No, I won't be posting any photos of my children on social media. It's too easy for them to be used without consent and for horrendous purposes (I know this might seem extreme but I have personal experience of this so very strong views on it).

Forfukzsake · 16/10/2022 00:08

It depends. If you have 400 'friends' on Facebook then it is quite public. If you have 40 family members and close friends and an otherwise private account then it isn't that different than having a picture up in your house.

tinatea · 16/10/2022 00:09

Absolutely not.

FarmhouseLiving22 · 16/10/2022 00:10

I think it depends really. I will post the odd pic on Facebook for my family to see who live abroad or people I don't get to see all that often. I wouldn't go out of my way to send a pic of my kids to them (unless it was Christmas etc) but it is nice that they get to see her first day at school etc. I post more on Instagram but again it's mostly for keeping in touch with people etc. I think it's a bit odd when people don't post anything about their kids on Facebook - imho if you don't like social media and wouldn't put your kids on there, why would you post about yourself on there?

AriettyHomily · 16/10/2022 00:12

Used to but that was ten years ago, no one I know uses DH like that any more, maybe a bit on insta but only in stories.

PoundShopPrincess · 16/10/2022 00:12

Yy on some where my pages are locked down so only family can see them. On social media where I have public profiles, I only rarely post pics of DCs and if I do, they're unidentifiable eg from the back and in the distance.

Passmethecrisps · 16/10/2022 00:13

I do. So does almost everyone I am in contact with on FB. My FB feed is 99% middle aged proud parents and we all coo over each other’s wonderful offspring. We are a clucks echo chamber

I have a fairly carefully curated Twitter feed which I post very occasional family pics. School shared pictures with the kids in. I have okayed that.

the kids get to see everything and have vetoed certain pictures.

ShesThunderstorms · 16/10/2022 00:15

I do on my Facebook and instagram. The only people I have on both are people that I would happily send a picture of them to anyway. They aren't in any profile/cover pics and I don't have things like their names or dates of births in my bio. My accounts are totally private.

Bigslippers · 16/10/2022 00:16

After being a foster carer and attending many training courses the answer is most definitely a big NO for me
We had speakers in from many police forces and CEOP - you would be sick if you had any idea what can happen to an innocent image of your child
Please dont do it.

Sparklythings1 · 16/10/2022 00:16

I do now and I posted one when he was born but it was one we had chosen was able to go on. It then annoyed me when the in-laws came round and his dad’s partner took loads of close up shots of his face and posted them repeatedly on Facebook. The same thing happened every time they visited and I really wasn’t comfortable with it but it wasn’t my place to say, as my husband should have but wouldn’t. Things like that are swept away as ‘aw they’re just excited’. The amount of things I had to let slide because people were ‘excited’ 🙈 Next time I wouldn’t be allowing it. You realise it’s not about other people and it’s about your new family

Changingmynameyetagain · 16/10/2022 00:17

Very very rarely, I used to 15 years ago when SM was new and my children were small but these days I don’t.
I’ve probably put up 1 or 2 pictures in the last year, and absolutely none of my daughter as she doesn’t want to be on the internet, she’s nearly 16 and I respect her decision.

HighlandPony · 16/10/2022 00:19

I don’t use social media except Snapchat and I’ve only got folk I know in real life on there, 99% of whom would see my kids if they looked out their window on any given day so I do put them on that.

Aria2015 · 16/10/2022 00:20

I do (not loads though), but I am quite selective with my Facebook and Instagram in terms of friends. My family and my dh’s family is very spread out geographically and so Facebook has been a good way of staying connected over the years. It's a personal preference. As my kids get older I’ll respect whatever they want re-posting photos of them though. I never post other people's kids without their parents permission.

Threelittlelambs · 16/10/2022 00:20

Defiantly not.
The photos can end up anywhere and the police have no powers to get the photos or websites removed.

And I have seen bullies use photos from parents accounts.

TescoCustomerService · 16/10/2022 00:20

All those commenting that you have very tightly controlled social media accounts, are you aware that websites exist which mirror your social media pages but without restrictions? So even if your privacy setting on Facebook is set to "friends only" and your Instagram account is private, anyone can see anything via those external sites, some of them even conveniently lay out all your posts and pictures in a timeline much like FB. If you think anything you post online is private, you're very wrong.

Gruffling · 16/10/2022 00:21

I do. Before she was born I didn't think I would...and then I was just so incredibly proud of her that I love to post pictures.

I have rules - has to be respectful, nothing that would embarrass her when she's older. So it's all very curated.

I love to see other parents' pictures too. Before motherhood I found these tedious. Motherhood has changed me so much!

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