to think you should keep your kids off SM?

[SomeoneElseEntirelyNow]

Spending a lot more time scrolling in lockdown (sigh) and I'm getting a bit freaked out by how many people i know who have completely public Instagram and Facebook accounts full of pictures of their kids. Bathtime, embarrassing stories, crying faces, and lots and lots of everyday photos, all completely open to the whole world.

Quite apart from the safety risk, it just seems really uncomfortable to me that so many parents are posting photos of their kids that will always be out there. What if their kid grows up and decides they don't want an internet presence (happens more often than you think)? Sorry little Amy, there are already 6000 photos of you online, too late now.

I get sharing photos of your kid with distant loved ones, but ffs make the albums private! I feel like sometimes people forget that their kids arent just extensions of themselves, and that they deserve to have control over their own presence.

I dont care about the privacy aspect, I just find posting pics of your kids really crass

@macncheeseballs why crass?

Tbh the world has changed- no one will be exempt from being on sm. Many many parents try and request no pics etc when born but inevitably they end up online once older, you can’t really stop it. Most teenagers want instagram, when they go out into the world of work they will have LinkedIn. Rather than try and object I think it’s best to go with it but teach safe practices eg. No school emblem pics, no street names and no open profiles.

YANBU.

It will be a cold day in hell before any images of my DC appear on social media, until they are old enough to post themselves.

I agree. I do not have a single photo of my DC online. It is not something that I do. My family and friends respect this and have also not posted photos online.

I have a teenager and they don't have their own SM. They aren't interested.

Some people post so much information online.

I don’t post pictures or use my kids names. My oldest is now an adult so I will post pictures of her but only if she gives me the ok..

@Macncheeseballs even if you're right about that, and i don't believe you are, surely it should be up to the kids to decide if they want their lives plastered over the internet, not their parents?

@OnlyFoolsnMothers not macncheese, sorry

Yes it is up to them but I would question a teenagers full understanding of posting pictures online.
I would probably trust a responsible parent more
than a 13yr old following the crowd amongst their peers.

I don’t have Instagram or Facebook, don’t use WhatsApp stories- however I have posted my DD on my dp pic, I’m also aware she is likely on some friends instagrams having attended their children’s parties. That’s kind of what I mean when I say you can’t fully control it

Online safety and self-determination are two completely different conversations though, i think.

It is a parent's responsibility to make sure their child is educated in how to use social media safely, but that doesn't give the parent the right to post pictures of their child all over their own profile.

You might not be able to control what other people post, but you can control what you post. That's what I'm talking about, not posting pictures of your own child.

@Mucklowe @TreeTopTim this is exactly the stance we've taken with DD

Yes but if the argument is to keep your child off sm then surely it does matter if others post.

I don’t post pics of my child because I don’t post pics of my life. If I was I certainly wouldn’t do bath/ school pics etc. But if my child was kicking a ball in the park and I posted a pic on a private fb profile I don’t see the harm.

This is one of the very, very few times I am almost glad that my on DS15 has SEN and is incapable of understanding/having social media.

It must be a nightmare for a lot of parents.

I might have to change his pads constantly and feed him but it's one less worry.

We all have different worries and problems.

I don't have SM either apart from being on here and I think my life is happier for it.

@Macncheeseballs

Why is it crass? I have friends and family all over the world, posting photos of our family in one place is easier than trying to email them to everyone which would take forever. They can only be seen by those they are intended for. I have had the odd profile picture with my child on them, but nothing embarrassing or that would come back to haunt them...