What you need to know about ‘sharenting’
By Kelly Woods
The act of ‘sharenting’ — parents sharing content online — has become a part of normal daily life.
Usually, the extreme cases of oversharing capture the spotlight, however, there are risks in our everyday social media interactions that contribute to our children’s digital footprint.
These simple posts can be compromising their privacy or exposing our children to unnecessary risks. So how are we to foster a thoughtful and responsible approach to sharing milestones and stories digitally?
Over the past two decades, the way people interact with technology has evolved drastically, and this includes the shift in how social media is used, and by whom.
With the influx of facial recognition technology, data mining, and other digital tracking tools, the information we post can be easily accessed, repurposed and redirected for commercial or malicious intent.
Our simple acts of sharing moments with family and friends online can become problematic. Even if privacy settings are in place, there’s no guarantee that the information won’t be viewed, downloaded, or shared by unintended parties.
So, what could these simple acts be?
Posting milestone moments
First steps, first words, birthdays or graduations are moments to celebrate. Though when these are posted online, they might be shared with an audience far beyond the intended circle of family and friends.
Celebrating achievements
Whether your child has won an award, excelled in a sport, or received recognition at school, these moments should make us proud of who our children are. However, when we post about these moments, we reveal a lot about our children’s interests, activities and routines. These could be used as information to manipulate or exploit, as well as give strangers a window into our child’s routines, hobbies and locations.
Sharing vacations
Sharing photos of family holidays and trips – even a visit to a local park – could unintentionally be broadcasting the family’s location in real-time. Along with opening the door for potential threats, like burglaries. These seemingly harmless moments of sharing joy can reveal a lot about a family’s routine and lifestyle.
Tagging and location sharing
Tagging locations and photos may seem like the obvious first step for a lot of us to limit our findability. However, when visiting museums, restaurants, church, or other local places, we pinpoint places we frequent. For our children, this can both be an invasion of privacy, but also accidentally map out and document their locations for others.
Posting videos of children’s conversations
Capturing adorable phrases, conversations or funny moments may seem like preserving precious memories. However, in a world full of viral content, these videos can quickly spread far beyond the intended audience and could have long-term implications. These could be as simple as embarrassment, or as concerning as online harassment.
As you can see, simple things have massive consequences that can be more severe than many of us might realise. Loss of privacy, security risks, and our family’s digital footprints are often at risk in our simplest of social media posts. So how can we avoid accidental “sharenting” moments?
Respecting boundaries
Take the time to talk to your children about their digital identity. Even young children can understand the concept, particularly as they were birthed into a digitally connected world. Having these conversations about what they would like posted about themselves helps teach self-autonomy as well as privacy and boundaries.
Think before you post
Take the time to ask yourself whether what your sharing could embarrass or harm your child. Remember to think about it from their perspective, and if you are in doubt then it is best to hold off on sharing.
Adjust your privacy settings
Ensure that your social media accounts are set to the highest privacy settings and take the time to regularly review these settings.
Avoid tagging
Refrain from sharing your real-time location when posting. Make sure you also check the location settings embedded in your images, as well as what you tag in the post.
Lead by example
Encouraging digital safety is about authenticity on and off the screen and understanding the digital realm. If we want our children to make informed choices, we need to take the time to increase our own digital literacy and responsibilities. Take the time to think before posting anything personal, and help be an example of good digital safety for your children to see.
If you want to explore “sharenting” further, then feel free to check out the below information:
Sharenthood, by Leah A Plunkett
Kelly Woods works in Younger Generations – New and Digital Communities within equipping Leadership for Mission