By the time our children are old enough to have their own social media account, their life will already be broadcasted online because of their parents. We love our kids and can’t help but share photos of them on social media. But are many of us oversharing photos of our children across our social media platforms? Should we draw the line somewhere to protect their privacy?
There seems to be a mentality that if we don’t post about it, it never happened. I see tons of photos of children on my social media feeds on a daily basis. We are thankful for the wonderful things our children are doing and want to share it with the world, but should we just occasionally share a favorite picture or two so we aren’t oversharing?
In a recent article by Kylie Rymanowicz and the Michigan State University Extension, the term “sharenting” is discussed. Yes, there’s now a term for parents sharing photos of their children on social media! I invite you to check out, “Sharenting: The downside to posting about your children on social media” to read about some of the reasons why we should think about what we post.
I’m not here to judge because I enjoy sharing favorite pictures of my children too! But I know my children deserve privacy and try to remain mindful of what I post so that I don’t overshare. Simply put, I think it’s important for us to find a healthy balance of what we share about our children online and I hope this sparks a conversation in your home.
Please continue to share your struggles and triumphs as a mom on your social media platforms. We all need to hear it so we can connect and support one another. And of course, our family and friends want to see pictures of our children on their feed, but can we give our children some privacy when it comes to sharing photos?
I’ll share something that stuck with me while I was researching oversharing on social media:
Enjoy moments for yourself today. Not everyone else.
